Before the Storm
by Divine Valor
Summary: "Do you think she'll do it?" "If I know Lily-" The arrow was shot. Soaring through the air, it pierced clean through his vital organ. "-she would do it in a heartbeat," he finished. "And she wouldn't regret it." A sixteen year old secret in the form of a teenager, two identities in one person, combined with a love triangle and what do you get?
1. Trailer

THE FOLLOWING TRAILER YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ HAS BEEN REWRITTEN OVER AND OVER BY THE AUTHOR DIVINE VALOR BEFORE BEING APPROVED OF AND FINALLY PUBLISHED.

THIS IS CONSIDERED A SIDE STORY TO J.K. ROWLING'S HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, ONLY WITH A FEW EFFECTS TO THE CANON STORY. THINK OF IT AS ALL THE PARTS OF THE BOOK THAT WERE NEVER REVEALED, WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN EACH EVENT.

AND NOW THE DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF J.K. ROWLING'S WORKS.

* * *

_Trailer_

Lightning bolts streaked across the sky as the storm worsened.

A figure clad in a rain jacket ran onto the sea arch before skidding to a halt. Someone else was here.

The second turned around. A flash of lightning, and a handsome young man with blonde hair and blue eyes was identified. He smiled, gesturing the guest over. "Thought you wouldn't make it. Come on. "

_**THEY KNEW HIS PLANS...**_

"Voldemort knows there's something hidden in Rome as well," Lupin said.

A dark blur ran out of the cave. All they could hear were boots pounding against the forest floor before giving chase.

"Do you think that I even asked this?" she screamed. "That I actually wanted this? No, I never ask! It's given to me!"

"And for that reason, he's recruited Typhon. "

In the midst of the storm was a formidable giant with gray humanoid skin and crimson eyes.

**_...AND WHERE HE WAS GOING..._**

A map of the world was spread out. A glowing white line drew itself from Britain to Italy.

_**...BUT WHAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW...**_

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know_," said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.

Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George's heads turned from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius.

"I don't intend to tell him more than he _needs to know_, Molly," said Sirius.

_**...WAS WHO HE WAS AFTER...**_

The gale pushed back the hood on the jacket. Red hair spilled out freely, green eyes managing to stand out in the darkness.

"Th-the girl," Lupin stammered. "She looks-"

"I know."

"After all, it's you, isn't it_,Lily?"_

The young woman grinned. "Course it's me, Luke. "

_**...AND NOW...**_

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you wait until now to say the truth?" he yelled furiously.

"Because I knew you would react like this," Lily said.

_**THE GATEWAY TO CHANGING THE WORLD HAS OPENED...**_

A set of doors opened. "Welcome to the Roman Academy of Magical Combat. "

The sea parted, revealing a set of golden gates between obsidian rocks.

"All we need to do is seal the gates," a young man with dark brown hair and blue eyes said.

"Julian, wait," Lily whispered.

_**...WORLDS APART...**_

Miles away, east of Britain, a pillar of light reached into the sky above Rome.

_**...YET THEY FIGHT THE SAME WAR...**_

"We'll fight with you," Luke said.

"NOW!" yelled Harry.

Five different voices behind him bellowed "REDUCTO!" Five curses flew in five different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor-

"Incoming! Second wave!"

The smoke disappeared, leaving behind ruined buildings and dead bodies in its wake. A statue of Lupa had fallen. Many wizards were attempting to escape with the injured. Children were crying. Only for those very wails to become their final breath.

"Rome is facing a war of its own!" Luke roared. "If we don't fight, we have no right to call ourselves Romans!"

The once gentle sea boiled. Typhon was closing in.

_**...LOVE WILL BE TESTED...**_

Luke pushed his bangs aside. "What can I do?"

"What can I do to make you mine?"

Lily and Luke embraced in a passionate kiss. Completely unaware of the storm around them or the storm that would follow.

"How can I ever make you love me?"

He pushed past her in disgust, leaving her emotions turmoiling within her. A furious wind that would soon birth a tempest.

_**...LIVES MUST BE TAKEN...**_

"It was one thing when you sent Typhon... but now... "

Lily cradled Luke's dead body. His eyes were closed as she kissed his forehead.

"You're unforgivable," she hissed coldly.

As she stood, she unsheathed a silver sword without a crossguard. A sword usually meant for cavalry.

It looked like a large butter knife.

"Don't you dare move," she said to the Death Eater behind her.

"What're you going to do with that butter knife, Potter? Butter me to death?" he sneered.

She pointed the blade at his throat.

_"I'm going to kill you. "_

_**...HEARTS MUST BE BROKEN...**_

"Lily?" She turned around at the mention of her name.

The sword sang out, slicing Snape's palm and his left forearm, before she sent him flying back from the impact of the pommel hitting his skull.

_**...AND A LIFE MUST BE BARGAINED...**_

"Grab my hand!" Lily extended her arm towards Julian.

_**...BUT AT THE PRICE OF ANOTHER...**_

"Roman Academy is one of the most dangerous schools in the world," Dumbledore explained.

She was running impossibly fast, vaulting herself over boulders and logs. She had never hated running until now.

A woman with wolf-like beauty spread her arms out. "Here we teach our students how to fight... "

Luke subdued the enemy and knocked another one down with a swipe of his leg.

" ...to kill... "

Lily nocked an arrow into the bowstring, aiming precisely at her opponent.

"You wouldn't dare," Snape hissed.

"You only have one shot," Julian yelled over the commotion._ "And don't you **DARE** even think about holding back!"_

" ...and to survive," she finished.

"Ironically, for that very reason, it's also the safest. "

_**...BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS...**_

"You didn't answer my question," Julian said.

"And that was?" a teen with distinctive German features asked.

_**CAN SHE BRING HERSELF TO KILL THE ONE SHE CALLED A FRIEND?**_

"Do you think she'll do it?"

"If I know Lily- "

Lily smirked. "Do you actually take me for a fool?"

"I promised I wouldn't make the same mistake as last time. "

The arrow was shot. Soaring through the air, it pierced clean through his vital organ.

Snape fell to the ground, his body crumpled.

" -she would do it in a heartbeat," he finished.

Lily spread her arms out in triumph. "As I promised, I didn't hold back. "

Julian kicked the dead body. "Well that was disturbing and disgusting."

The teen began to clap. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our answer."

" And I owe you ten Galleons, don't I, Sieg?"

_**COMING SOON...**_

"Get ready," Julian said, surveying the battlefield. "There's going to be one hell of a storm."

_**BEFORE THE STORM**_


	2. Of Awakenings

_"The hardest person to wake up is the person who is already awake. " __-Filipino proverb_

* * *

Fred heaved a great sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to. "

"Snape?" said Harry quickly. "Is he here?"

"Yeah," said George, carefully closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny followed. "Giving a report. Top secret. "

"Git," said George idly.

* * *

Prologue

Awakening

August 6, 12 Grimmauld Place, 7:00 PM 

"The giants being recruited, the Dementors leaving Ministry control," Snape informed. "It's all part of the Dark Lord's plan: The Great Awakening."

"Hang on," Bill said. "The Great Awakening?"

"Voldemort knows there's something in Rome as well," Lupin said. "Yet he doesn't know _what_?"

A solemn nod was his only answer.

"And for that reason, a reason he knows nothing of, he's recruited _Typhon_. " The air grew considerably colder at this name.

"Correction: he's_ trying_ to recruit Typhon," Snape said. "The only problem is finding the place where he was trapped."

* * *

Three miles from Durdle Door, 7:00 PM

A cave- almost invisible to the naked eye- was hidden from view by trees and boulders. Due to its talent of escaping even the trained eye, it could be used as a hideout for criminals. Or even as a shelter for runaways.

Inside, a human girl slept on a sleeping bag. She opened an eye, as if searching for possible threats. As she stood up and stretched, the sleeping bag shrunk to the size of a coin before she pocketed it. Zipping up her jacket, she then peered out of the cave.

To the east of the cave, a manticore and a Chimera lurked. It was considered a wonder how the two creatures could stay in the same area without killing each other. But the beasts had picked up a human scent: one with speed and trained in the art of survival. A temporary truce seemed to have been made between them: They would hunt down the human together and squabble over the spoils of war later.

To the west of the cave, a Dementor glided. Wherever it drifted, plants died. It, too, had sensed the human nearby and was hungry for it.

That is, for its _soul._

A sick, twisted partnership must have been made between the three magical creatures: The Dementor would feed off of its emotions, thereby weakening it, before swooping in and sucking its soul, allowing the manticore and Chimera to fight over the fresh meat. Or maybe the Chimera and the manticore could mutilate the human- a painful death- until as it was dying, the Dementor would take the soul out of pity- could it even _feel_ pity?- before the beasts brawled over the spoils.

Whatever it was, they were about to be proved wrong in three... two... one...

A dark blur ran out of the cave. All they could hear were boots pounding against the forest floor before giving chase.

The human was running with incredible agility, vaulting herself over a log even in the middle of a sprint before the feeling of dread and sorrow came over her. The Dementor swooped in, feeling its influence on her. It was closing in until-

"Expecto Patronum!" A silvery-white specter suddenly appeared, colliding with the Dementor, warding it off. For now.

She heard it before she saw it. The manticore lashed out, rushing in on its prey. The human did a series of flips to avoid the stinging end of its tail. The manticore ran headfirst into a boulder, while the girl landed on the same rock. Taking only a moment to observe the beast, she jumped off of said boulder and kept running in case it regained consciousness.

A hill sloping downwards was quickly approaching. To her surprise, the Chimera pounced at her from the bottom of the hill. To_ its_ surprise, she used its lion-like head to launch herself into midair and grab a tree branch to swing herself to the bottom of the hill.

Upon landing, she continued running. Several meters away, the Chimera was running alongside her, watching her carefully for a chance to attack.

The girl pulled a pin out of her hair along with a crescent moon clip. The latter morphed into a beautiful silver bow while the ordinary pin became an arrow. She nocked the arrow, aiming at the beast hunting her, before allowing it to fly.

_Thud._ The Chimera fell to the ground, mortally wounded, with the arrow protruding from its abdomen.

Grinning, the girl ran a tad bit faster, placing her clip back in her hair, before her foot collided with a bulky object. Looking back, a Red Cap was out of its pothole and rubbing its head.

"Sorry!" But the Red Cap made rude gestures at her and muttered what had to have been curses.

She sped up, pulling her hood on before dread and anguish came back. The Dementor was hovering behind her, where the manticore and the Chimera were also giving chase.

Another log was coming up, but it was glowing green. The girl took no note of this and vaulted herself over. As the three creatures were about to do the same, something interesting happened.

The Dementor had run into an unseen barrier before slowly transforming into an unknown blob. Said blob crept back into the forest. As the manticore and the Chimera ran into the barrier between predator and prey, they took the forms of twigs before falling to Earth.

The girl leaned against a tree. She panted heavily, trying to regain her breath. Some water would be nice,too.

* * *

"Rome," Moody muttered.

"Does it mean something to you, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked.

"That place...the battle that took place in that city..." The ex-Auror leaned on his staff. "And that was one of the last missions-no, it _was_ the last- Lily and James ever took on with us, don't you remember, Remus? Sirius?"

"The look on her face after that," Sirius added. "She didn't even look remotely alive."

* * *

Clapping sounded throughout the clearing. "And she's alive," a male voice said. "Valor, you are a beast!"

The girl looked up to the starry sky. "Luke... where... the hell... are you?"

"Come and find me. That is, if you can. "

The girl, Valor, as the voice called her, managed to walk onto the path leading to the sea arch. Just as she reached it, she grinned. There he was, with his back turned to her. If she was quiet enough, she could sneak up and-

Crap, her foot snapped a twig.

The second turned around. A flash of lightning, and a handsome young man with blonde hair and blue eyes was identified. He smiled, gesturing the guest over. "Thought you wouldn't make it. Come on. "

Valor made her way to him, Luke as she called him, but she could hardly take a step without falling. Luke reached out and caught her, helping her to sit down on the ground.

* * *

"I expect the both of you to trust each other," Dumbledore warned. "As I do for both of you. "

"How the hell do you expect me to trust him, of all people?" Sirius stood up so quickly, his chair fell with a bang. "While we're plotting against Voldemort- " Many hissed at the name. "-how do we know you're not going behind our backs, telling him all of our plans to protect the prophecy? How do we know you haven't already given away our location or mine?"

"You actually have the audacity to say that to me?" Snape sneered. "While I risk my life double-crossing the Dark Lord to bring this information, what do you ever do for the Order? You sit around in your late mother's house, holed up because you're too damn afraid to get out without the danger of being dragged back to Azkaban- "

"I'd watch that nose of yours if I were you, Sni- "

"ENOUGH!" Moody roared. Both flinched at his tone and pocketed their wands, which they hadn't even realised they had pulled out. "Fighting amongst ourselves won't help the Order one bit! In fact, it'll only bring discord, which is exactly what You-Know-Who wants! Unless we trust in each other, which these two- " He cast an accusing glance at Snape first, then Sirius. "- are clearly reluctant in doing. Anyone else who wants to follow their example, raise your hand so I can curse you into oblivion. "

No one even moved an inch. Moody smirked. "Then I declare this meeting adjourned. " As the Order members left the kitchen, he muttered," I've always wanted to say that. " No one but Sirius and Lupin heard him say this.

Mundungus could've been included, if not for a snore that indicated he was asleep.

* * *

Luke passed a water canteen to Valor. "Want some?"

Valor, being that thirsty, took the canteen gratefully. It must have been downed in three seconds.

"Thanks," she gasped as she handed it back. Her eyes found the sea stack that had once been part of the Durdle Door. It was unusually tall, taller than the arch. If you looked at it in a certain way and at a certain angle, it resembled a giant trapped in a pillar of stone." How long was it?"

"Three miles in eight minutes," he said.

"Eight minutes?" She pouted. "Wow, I'm out of practice."

"Hey, Valor," Luke said. "Remember that bet we made?"

"Depends on which bet."

"If a person was so thirsty and a drink was offered to them, would they or would they not check to see if said drink was spiked?"

_"What did you do?"_

* * *

Moody rubbed his forehead. "I thought I'd seen and heard the last of Rome that day. "

"The most brutal battle during the war at the time," Sirius agreed. "And that Unspeakable... who was it?"

"Bode?" Lupin put in.

"Yeah, him. " Sirius frowned. "He said something that I never really understood, even until now."

"And that was?" Moody gestured for him to continue.

"He told Lily not to go to Rome..._ or-"_

_"Or?"_ Lupin asked.

_"Or she'd do something to herself."_

* * *

"You promised I could braid your hair." Luke waved a tiny bottle in front of Valor.

It turned out that Luke had spiked the water with a Temporary Paralysis Potion. How long it lasted usually depended on how much had been consumed and if it had been diluted. And Valor had at least ten minutes before she regained movement.

The gale pushed back the hood on the jacket. Red hair spilled out freely, green eyes managing to stand out in the darkness.

As Luke combed through the strands, Valor continued to watch the sea stack. The face in the stone seemed to watch her too. It had seen those eyes before. Not just from the Scots and Irish, but from long ago. Those eyes belonged to one of the many who had trapped it there.

* * *

As Dumbledore explained to Snape what had happened to Lily during that day in Rome, a horrible thought crossed his mind.

Snape was taken back. "You don't suspect- "

"It's exactly what I suspect. "


	3. Liberate

_"None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free."_  
_-Pearl S. Buck_

* * *

Chapter One:

**Let Me Out**

_There was a room enveloped in darkness. Not one door was in sight. However, there was a small horizontal crack of light on the ground. That must have been it._

_Behind the unseen door, laughter and music could be heard. A party, perhaps; the kind of party an average teenager throws when their parents are gone._

_But within the shadow room, there was crying._

_It was difficult to tell where the noise came from. But shuffling noises made their way to the small bit of light that was allowed inside. At last, the culprit was identified._

_A little girl no more than three stood near the door, rubbing her eyes furiously. Her hair curled around her delicate face in matted red locks. She pulled her hands away from her face, revealing an astonishingly bright pair of almond indigo eyes. But no matter how bright they were, that didn't change the fact that they were riddled with pain and suffering._

_The toddler pounded her small fists against the invisible door. "Let me out!"_

_The music was turned up louder, drowning out her voice._

_"Let me out!" she screamed. "I can't breathe in here!"_

_More laughter, more deaf ears._

_And still no one to help her._

_The child sat against the door, her knees up to her chest, and her head resting on them._

_"Let me out," she repeated to the darkness._

_"Let me go..."_

_"Set me free..."_

* * *

Luke woke up suddenly, automatically sitting up. Looking around him, he saw Valor sleeping on the other bed next to him. He let out a sigh of relief. But he couldn't get the dream out of his mind.

His eyes found the clock. 10:01, it read. He scowled in annoyance. He had woken up too soon, he only had one minute of sleep!

_But that nightmare wasn't normal, either_, Luke thought.

He reached over his bedstand to grab an object-a notebook?- along with a pen. He opened the notebook to the very first page and scribbled a message.

* * *

_August 7, 10:02 PM, Yacht, Man O' War Bay_

_Can you see her?_

_She suffers inside, yet the smile remains._

_She tries to be brave for us_

_so we don't see her hurting._

_She's trapped._

A young man sat in a chair on the deck of the motor yacht, watching the sea stack that was once part of Durdle Door, a notebook on his lap. He had to be at least seventeen with sharp, distinctive German features about him: dark blonde hair combed down while sky blue eyes now glanced at his notebook, which had begun to glow. Opening it up, he saw a small sentence scribbled where there had once been blank space.

_Bring Julian and come back to the safe house._

The teen closed his book, rubbing his forehead, knowing what this was about.

_"Set me free..."_

He shook his head, trying to get that plea out of his mind. But he stood up and threw a stone into the bay.

* * *

A young man with dark brown hair sat against a large rock, his eyes closed.

_"Set me free..."_

The teen opened his eyes, revealing blue eyes shades darker than the previous two. A deep blue, like the depths of an ocean. That nightmare had scared him back to consciousness.

_That girl looked familiar_, he thought.

But he was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw a rock sinking to the ground.

Sighing, he pushed himself off of the rock, slowly floating back to the surface.

He had been napping in the water.

* * *

The teen broke through the surface, swimming back to the yacht, where his friend waited at the deck.

"And he's alive," the first said, clapping. "Julian Nightshade, you are a beast!"

Julian toweled himself off."How long was it, Sieg?" he asked, putting his jacket on.

"Two hours," Sieg answered, the yacht now heading back to the cove. "You spent the entire shift there."

"And why did you call me out of my comfort zone?" Julian inquired.

He looked away, staring out at the sea.

"You didn't answer my question," Julian said.

"And that was?" he asked.

Suddenly, Julian saw the fear in Sieg's eyes. The same fear he had felt when he had the nightmare, when he had seen that little girl locked in the shadow room.

"You and Luke had the same nightmare, didn't you?"

"So have you."

* * *

_Man O' War Cove, 11:00 PM_

Luke stood at the beach, watching the yacht come into the cove. As it slowed down close to the beach, Julian and Sieg jumped onto the coastal shelf. The yacht suddenly shrank to the size of a pebble, which Julian promptly pocketed.

"Same nightmare?" Luke asked. They nodded.

"That wasn't an ordinary nightmare," Sieg added. "Especially if three people had it at the same time."

"But that kid in the room," Julian started. "If it weren't for the eyes-"

"Hey!" The three looked up at the cliffs. Valor stood there, fully dressed and her hair tied back. "Trouble at Durdle Door, we need to get there now!"

Luke cursed. "I thought the charms were enough to hide it."

Sieg rolled back his sleeves."Well, they were bound to fail in the end. But for now, let's kick Death Eater ass, shall we?"

"Couldn't have said it better," Julian said, grinning.

All three of them Disapparated.

* * *

_Durdle Door_

Lightning bolts streaked across the sky as the storm worsened.

A figure clad in a rain jacket ran onto the sea arch before skidding to a halt. Someone else was here.

No, there were two. At least, until a third came towards them.

"L-Lucius," he stuttered. "The Romans know of what we are doing. They're on their way-"

"They're not on their way," a cold voice hissed. The pillar began to crumble as he muttered a spell. "They're already here."

"Why don't you show yourself?"

Cursing, the figure came out of the trees, her wand at the ready.

The short balding man swiveled, only to see her face and gape as if she were a ghost.

The second turned around. Fair hair framed the young Death Eater's face as purple eyes narrowed but lit up in recognition.

"Lucian?"

He smirked."The one and only. Long time, no see."

"I didn't come to socialize," she said. "I came to ask you why you're helping Voldemort-"The Death Eaters instantly hissed."-raise that."

Lucian clapped in mock applause. "You're brave, no, _valorous_," he sneered,"to use that name. But if you must know, the Dark Lord wants Typhon to lead the giant troops we've recruited to bring the world under his command. After all, this is the giant that made the gods run in absolute terror."

As if to prove it, the seastack shook from the spell that would release the giant within and the storm that helped erode it.

"Wormtail!" The short balding man flinched."Why don't you entertain our guest here? Make sure she doesn't get in our way."

"Y-yes," he squeaked. But before he could even reach for his wand, he fell, warts and scabs upon his face.

"I'll admit, you got faster," Lucian commented. Behind him, the seastack crumbled, now starting to shake uncontrollably.

Julian Apparated next to Valor."Sieg went back to the Italian Ministry and Luke ran into some Death Eaters back there-" He saw the Death Eater in front of him._ "Lucian?"_

He smirked again."Hello,_ bro_-" His words were cut off by an unearthly roar that shook the arch. The column was blasted apart, boulders of all sizes sent flying as a hurricane took its place.

"You've got to be kidding," Valor muttered.

"He's here," Lucian whispered.

The hurricane grew even fiercer. In the midst of the storm was a formidable giant with gray humanoid skin and crimson eyes.

"Typhon!" Lucian marched up to the cliff. "We ask you for your strength!"

The storm giant's eyes narrowed at the minuscule human. Its hand drew back, a small twister forming in it.

"You idiot!" Julian yelled. "Get out-"

The giant struck the cliff. The Death Eaters flew away as a dark smoke. But for Julian and Valor, they were tossed back as they barely survived the brunt of the attack.

* * *

_Author's Notes_

_Now, if you've noticed the quotes and proverbs I've used so far, those are not mine, except for that little poem during the part at Man O' War Bay. But they did inspire me to write the prologue and chapter one._

_As for the beginning of this chapter, I was listening to Evanescence, Bring Me to Life when I suddenly got the idea for my chapter. Sorry if it seems so dark, but as more chapters come rolling in, you'll understand._

_Read and Review_!


	4. Incarnate

_"The awakening of a giant shakes the world."_

_-Arab proverb_

* * *

Chapter Two

**Incarnation**

_August 8, Durdle Door, 4:03 AM_

Moody limped across the hills, moving rubble out of his path with his wand. There were more boulders strewn across the beach than before.

Lupin surveyed the arch and the beach with a fascinated horror. "They found him," he said simply. "Do you think he went with them?"

Moody snorted."If I had to bet, they didn't even come close to capturing him. And I'd like to see You-Know-Who try and Imperius _Typhon_."

"But that's not my concern." Moody lifted more boulders out of the way. "Mine lies with the survivors. That is, if anyone tried to stop the blasted De-_aha_." His magical eye scrutinized the dirt. Reaching his hand in, he pulled out an eighteen year old boy with sandy blonde hair.

"Is he a Muggle?" Lupin asked.

As soon as he said that, the teen stirred enough to snort."Who... the hell... are you calling...a Muggle?" He pulled his hand out of the dirt with difficulty, revealing a wand tightly clasped in his right hand.

"So we just have one to escort to Mungo's," Moody said. "Let's leave-"

"Wait..." the youth croaked. "At the arch...two...my friends..." He began to cough from lack of clean air. Lupin conjured a stretcher to let him rest upon.

"Kingsley should be at the arch," Lupin noted.

"But you should assist him," Moody growled. "In case there are remaining Death Eaters-"

"Remus! Alastor!" Kingsley waved them over. "You may want to see this."

"Spoke too soon," Moody remarked. "Maybe it's a Death Eater body."

But as they clambered over, followed by a floating stretcher, Kingsley was digging out the body of dark haired teen, who was still, but barely, breathing.

"There's one more," Lupin reminded.

"I know," Kingsley answered. "And that's why I called you over." He stepped aside to reveal another stretcher, this one with a red-haired teen upon it. As Moody inspected the girl to see why she had caught Kingsley's attention, she turned her head slightly and squinted up at them. He only had one glimpse of her eyes- which was enough to cause Lupin to gasp- before she fell back to unconsciousness.

"Th-the girl," Lupin stuttered. "She looks-"

"I know." Moody clapped his hands together."Change of plans. Looks like we'll be relieving Mungo's of an occupied ward."

* * *

_12 Grimmauld Place, London, 4:10 AM_

The doors to Grimmauld Place closed with a bang, which was enough to cause Mrs. Black's portrait to start screaming again. Sirius rushed down, extremely drowsy and irritated, to close the curtains. "Can't you people be any less loud?"

"Sorry, Sirius," Lupin apologized. "But we have injured with us."

"Couldn't you have taken them to Mungo's?" Sirius yawned.

"We would have, if not for the girl."

Sirius frowned, but when Lupin told him of her appearance, all he said was,"Lots of people have red hair and green eyes."

"But how many can you name with _almond_ eyes?" Moody asked. "They aren't very common, are they?"

"But we don't have many people in here trained in Healing-"

"Just wake Molly up."

* * *

The three strangers were treated in the living room, which had recently been cleaned until fit for humans. Their jackets were taken off-with difficulty, as one of them had a broken arm- and dusted by Kreacher, who was muttering the usual about filth and what his mistress would say.

Mrs. Weasley placed a wet towel on the young woman's forehead, not at all perturbed by the fact that all three of them had shown up so suddenly.

"Is Dumbledore here?" Moody asked.

"No but-" A door opened from one of the upper floors, three sets of feet coming down the steps."-they just woke up."

"Mum, what's for break-" Ron stopped mid-word, wondering why three strangers were in the living room.

"Ron, what's going on?" Harry came into the living room with him, then froze when he saw the newcomers.

"Who are they?" Hermione asked, now entering.

"Romans," Kingsley assured. "By the symbol on their jackets-" Although all three were different in design, they bore the same crest : An eagle carrying a shield with the letters RAMC. "- they're from the Roman Academy of Magical Combat."

"Ahh."Moody rubbed his hands. "The primary school for Aurors."

"Hermione?" Harry and Ron looked to Hermione, who had read_ An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_.

"Even attending that school on an exchange trip ensures a career in the Ministry," she said. "After all, nearly all of its graduates turn out Aurors, Hit Wizards, influential members of the Italian Ministry."

"You make us sound like soldiers." The dark haired boy sat up, rubbing his forehead."Then again, we're trained like them. Some of us are even born into it." Harry had a sudden jolt on who the boy looked like : Slytherin fifth-year Lucian Nightshade, who was now in his sixth year and had gone on an exchange trip to the aforementioned school the previous year.

"Lucian!" Harry and Ron immediately searched their pockets for their wands.

"Lucian" scowled at them. "I know I just met you blokes, but do I even _look_ like my git brother Lucian?"

They lowered their wands."Brother?"

"Did he never mention me? Typical," the teen said. "Lucian hardly considers me his older half-brother, anyways."

"So who are you?" Ron asked.

"Julian Nightshade," he introduced. "Fortunately, I don't share the same arse that Lucian had for a father."

"And who are they?"

* * *

"Just call me Valor," she said. Harry had been instantly haunted by the fact that Valor shared the same appearance of his late mother, Lily Potter. Only everything about Valor was sharp and angles.

"And I'm Luke," the other said.

"So what were two Auror trainees and an Auror doing in England?" Dumbledore asked.

"I think you already know the answer to that," Julian said, putting his jacket on again.

Dumbledore nodded."Typhon." Again, the air grew considerably cold.

"We were stationed here by our Head of Office," Valor said. "It should have been simple, only we let our guard down."

"Recruit them, Albus," Moody kept muttering. Dumbledore shot him a look before asking," How would you like to assist the Order of the Phoenix?"

"The Order?"

"Right now, we're trying get the word out that You-Know-Who's back," Moody said. "And when our idiot Ministry believes us, we'll be combatting the Death Eaters."

For a while, they were silent. Harry was afraid that they would say no.

Until one of them cracked."If my headmistress trusts you, then so do I. We'll fight with you," Luke said.

"And you two?"

Valor shook her head, Harry's heart fell, until she said,"I can't, I'm still in school."

"So am I," Julian said.

* * *

"Didn't you see her, Albus?" Moody growled. "The hair, the eyes! She's hiding something, Albus. You know it as well!"

Moody had no idea how right he was, but his suspicions were far different than that of Dumbledore's.

* * *

"Earlier, Moody called you an Auror," Harry said. "But you look like you just got out of school."

"Ah." Luke leaned back in his chair. "First, you need to know that every country has its own set of laws and regulations. Sure, we share some of the more important ones-like the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy- but when we come to the age where Aurors are accepted for training,ah, now that's where we differ."

"You see, the Roman Academy teaches every student that steps foot in the school the art of magical combat-"

"Hence the name," Julian added.

"Thank you, Julian," Valor said. "We start when we're seven, as soon as we start showing signs of magic, and it's like that for ten years. But for the last three years, if you choose to accept, we qualify as Aurors when we're fourteen."

"And half of the graduating class are already Aurors," Luke said. "Their futures are all set."

"I bet your parents are all proud of you," Hermione told them.

There was no mistaking it : Luke and Valor's eyes shared the same sadness and jealousy that Harry would recognize anywhere. And unless he was mistaken, Valor's eyes were a shade of _indigo_.

But a cloud-like mirage hovered in front of Valor, and green replaced indigo. "Anything wrong, Sieg?"

"The Head's not really happy with us," the teen in the mirage said grimly. "But on the other hand, he's glad we made it. All three of you are to report back."

"Got it." Valor pulled a crescent moon clip out of her hair along with a coin from her pocket. The clip slowly transformed into an archer's bow. Nocking the coin into the string, she aimed for the keyhole and let the coin fly loose. It passed straight into the keyhole.

"Really?" Julian asked, an amused look on his face.

"Sagittarius always comes prepared," she said.

Harry half-expected the people behind the door to walk into the room and ask if anyone had lost a Galleon. However, he did not expect to see the keyhole yawn and the knob to become a nose. If it wasn't his imagination, the Escutcheon plate had a _face._

"You didn't have to aim that hard," it said. "You nearly chipped a tooth, my dear."

"I'm sorry, Janus," Valor said, fixing the clip back into her hair. "But we need to get back to Rome."

_"We,"_ it sneered, this time in a different voice. But the doorknob didn't even move. "Don't you mean _you, Devine?"_

"Now, now,settle down," came the calming voice again."Mind you, she did pay us a golden aureus. Do you know how rare those are nowadays?"

"Rare for the others," the door jeered. "But not for the _Eternal Devines-"_

_"Shut up,"_ Valor said, her voice shaking.

"Yes, do shut up," the calm voice said.

"After all, the only thing the Devines are talented at is running away from their deathbeds-_ahhh!"_

Valor forced the door open, revealing a town square where there should have been a hallway. She stepped through, not once looking back.

_"Janus,"_ Luke reprimanded.

"It was his fault!" Now that the door was open, they could see that the door knobs had faces on either side of them.

"Was not!" the knob on the left cried. "Please don't tell your father that I chased away a customer-"

"All you need to do is shut up, like we all suggest." Luke crossed the "threshold" and strolled into the square, chasing after Valor.

Julian sighed and took hold of the knob."Sorry about that you three," he said. "But can you just understand where Valor and Luke are coming from, Harry? One orphan to another?"

"You're squashing my nose,"the knob said.

"I could," Harry said."But it's not really easy when Valor looks exactly like my mum."

Julian froze before he could cross the threshold. Turning around, he asked," Your mum was Muggle-born, right?"

"Yeah," Harry said hotly."Is there a problem?"

"No." Julian shook his head before looking up."But if what you're saying is true, then Valor and your mum can't be the same people. Because Valor is a _pureblood."_

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Dun,dun,dun...(cue drumroll)_

_Pureblood? Not what you people were expecting, were you?_

_So Julian and Lucian are half-brothers, only Julian was born in Rome and Lucian in London. And they were born half a year apart._

_While Julian's name means "downy-bearded youth", it's ironic that Lucian's name means light when he's sided with the Death Eaters._

_Anyways, the name Devine comes from the Latin surname Divinus, which is where we get the word divine._

_But it could also be the Irish surname Devine, which is a form of either O Damhain , meaning descendant of Damhan, which translates into "fawn" or "stag,ox"(any ideas so far?) or O Dubhain,descendant of Dubhan, which means "dark,black"._

_These meanings come from behindthename DOT com. And my computer doesn't allow me to use accents for letters._

_Yes, I might have incorporated a bit of Percy Jackson into this story, but do you see any of the characters from that series appearing here? Well, I might have borrowed Luke and changed him along with Janus a bit, but that's it. I do not own the Percy Jackson series._

_And don't just read, review._


	5. Liars

_"Dreams are illustrations...from the book your soul is writing about you."_

_-Marsha Norman_

* * *

Chapter 3

**Liars and Dreamers**

Harry tried to find the right words to say, but all he could manage was,"Pureblood?"

"Mm-hmm."

"She seems pretty decent," Hermione said, though her eyes betrayed the astonishment within.

"That's because she doesn't give a damn about blood, says it's more about a person's merits," Julian said. "In other words-"

"A blood traitor," Ron said finally.

"Her parents must have been like that to have passed that belief onto her," Harry said.

Julian's eyes darkened. "About that..." He cleared his throat. "At our school, not one of us has a perfect family. Some of us have nuclear families, others come from families that practically go nuclear on each other. But most of us...are missing either one or both of our parents. And that's what happened with Luke and _L_-I mean, Valor," he corrected. "They grew up not knowing either of their parents, without their parents' love and protection."

Harry eased up, but was highly suspicious of Julian when he corrected himself. "Them too?"

"We all have family issues," he said.

"So which one are you?" Ron asked.

"Pardon?"

"Your family," he prompted.

"Raised by my mum without my dad," he said, with a hint of resentment. "Apparently, he went to sea and never came back. That's my mum's _"kind"_ version of how my dad abandoned me. So to give me a father figure in my life, she married my stepdad and had Lucian five months later. All that did was make me resent Lucian as I grew up."

"Then who raised Valor when she was born?" Hermione asked, switching back to the main topic.

"Her uncle,"Julian said, blinking as if he had only just remembered who he was talking about in the first place. "Him, and her paternal grandmother. So among the three of us, she was the only one who had someone close to a father."

"Did-" Harry swallowed. "Did her parents die for her relatives to raise her?"

"Hmm,no." He shook his head. "Her parents were _alive_ when they gave her away. Then the-" Julian said something in what Harry guessed to be an Italian curse, because he heard something along the lines of _bastard_."-disappeared from the face of Europe. Just-" He made a sweeping motion with his hand. "Gone. As if they never existed. So her uncle and her grandmother brought her up. _Doted_ on her, more like. Although Grandma Devine made sure to discipline her."

"Didn't the door say something about her surname?" Ron asked,

"Indeed!" The left knob cried. "The E-"

"Stuff it,_ sinistra_." Julian turned the left knob rather roughly.

"Ouch!" it yelled.

"Right, so the Devines are ancient, they go pretty far back-"

"How far?"

"The Roman Republic? No, wait, the founding of Rome," he concluded. He looked up, seeing the surprised looks on their faces. "Older than the Blacks. And when the Roman Empire fell, they were one of the few Roman pureblood families to stay when everyone else moved to other parts of Italy."

"Then what did it mean by _"running away from their deathbeds_"?" Harry asked.

Julian turned his head, looking out into the town square beyond the door. "Let's just say that there's a gift that every flesh and blood Devine inherits, and that's what gave them the nickname_ 'Eternal Devines_.'"

"Can you tell us?"

"Oh, I wouldn't ask that if I were you," the right knob said. "If you knew what it was, you'd try to woo her into marrying you, so your children would inherit that gift. And trust me, Potter, she has enough men on her tail trying to accomplish that."

"Thank you for agreeing with me, _destra_."

"Anytime-"

"Nightshade!" The young man from the mirage was in the square, waving him over. "Hurry with it, the Head's waiting!"

"Sorry, but now I have to leave." Julian passed over the threshold, shutting the door behind him. A light poured out of the keyhole before retreating.

The door reopened. For a moment, Harry thought it would be Julian or Luke, even Valor.

But in came Mrs. Weasley with an impatient look on her face.

"I've been calling for ten minutes," she huffed. "Your breakfasts are starting to get cold."

* * *

_August 8, Italian Ministry of Magic, Rome, 4:45 AM_

A tall, well-built man dressed in a crisp designer suit laid down a file on his desk, next to his nameplate. It read in bold letters **ACHILLE FALCO, HEAD OF** **AUROR OFFICE.** He paced the front of his desk, albeit with a limp. His left ankle clicked with each step from the intricate metal foot he had recieved as replacement for his lost one.

In front of him were the four Romans he had sent to England : the newly graduated Luke di Mercurio, and the three trainees who were still completing their education : Siegfried Nacht, Julian Nightshade, and Luke's trainee, Valor Devine, whose name was supposed to be kept secret, and best friend to Julian.

"So the Death Eaters let Typhon out of his prison," he said.

"Yes, sir," Julian responded.

"And the both of you," he spared a glance at Luke and Julian,"were ambushed by Death Eaters at the hills?"

"Yes,sir."

"But did Typhon accompany the Death Eaters?"

"No, sir," Valor answered this time. "He attacked them as well as us and we were incapacitated from the impact."

"I see." Falco sat back down in his chair. "At ease, Aurors," he added, and the quartet relaxed from their posture and sat down in the chairs behind them. "So while the release of Typhon was successful, Voldemort failed to recruit the one tool that would have ensured his power over the wizarding world. Like Voldemort, Typhon refuses to be under anyone's command. In the meantime, he's taken to wreaking havoc among the tropical regions, someplace near the Atlantic. I've already informed the Ministry there to keep an eye out. Until we recieve news that he's arrived in the Meditterranean, you are dismissed."

They bowed before leaving the room. Luke was about to exit when,"Mercurio."

He pivoted on his heel, facing his Head, with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Make sure to keep an eye out for Devine," Falco warned.

"Yes, sir," he said, though it came out like a question.

As he left, Falco said to himself,"You have no idea what she is, boy. Nor does she realise what resides in her."

* * *

_12 Grimmauld Place, 5:02 AM_

"It's times like these when I wonder why Hogwarts isn't like the other schools," Ron said. "I mean, Roman prepares you for a career that's bound to earn you loads of gold. Why can't we be like that? What do you think, Harry?"

"If we were, then I'd already be an Auror," Harry said.

"But are you prepared to take on the training that the students must learn everyday?"

Harry and Ron nearly fell from their seats. Dumbledore stood in the kitchen doorway. He strolled in, situating himself at the head of the table.

"Roman Academy is one of the most dangerous schools in the world," Dumbledore explained. "The students are taken in by the time they are seven, an age which I consider far too early. Once there, they are not only taught the various magical disciplines that we have at Hogwarts, but also languages, cultures, and combat, both magical and Muggle. They are trained to fight to the death, to capture without fail, and to kill without hesitation. Would you willingly learn that? To kill, when one day, the enemy you were taught to annihilate was your best friend?"

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, shocked by the fact that the school would teach such a thing.

"But the headmistress of that school also teaches her students the one thing that puts them ahead in the world. They're taught to, as she put it,_ blend in_ with the crowd. Ironically, for that very reason, it's also the safest."

* * *

Harry found Sirius in the drawing room, staring intensely at the family tapestry. His eyes were moving side-to-side, as if searching for someone upon it. Harry stepped closer, following his godfather's gaze to the disowned Alphard Black, where a double line of thread lead down to the faded name Io Black.

"My cousin Ione," Sirius said, realising that Harry was standing next to him. "She was looking for a job in the Ministry, when she met the Italian Head of International Magical Cooperation. Some forgotten bloke, as far as the tapestry can remember," he added, pointing to the faded name next to Ione. "She got a desk job in that Department at the time. At first, they didn't even know who the other was, besides a person they'd see from time to time. But eventually they learned each others' names, found out what kind of family they were brought up in, and later took to spending their days off together. However, Devine had to return to Rome. And the last I ever heard of Ione, she was married and had moved to Rome with her new husband."

He traced another double line down to a very faded name. It was clear that several letters were missing, causing the name to read _Io or ine_.

* * *

_Malfoy Manor, Drawing room, 5:15 AM_

A tall pale figure in dark robes sat in the large armchair, stroking the head of a large snake. Narrow serpentine eyes, both master and reptile, were trained on the man who stood in front of him, finishing his report.

For a moment, he was silent, absorbing the information.

"They still believe that you are gathering information for their side?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Very well, Severus, you may leave."

But before Snape could do so, the doors flew open. The intruders entered the room, though one of them was the master of the manor. They bowed to the wizard sitting in the chair, who merely inclined his head.

_"Well?"_ It was only a simple word, yet it carried much coldness that caused everyone else in the room to flinch.

"My Lord," Lucius said,"we succeeded in releasing the giant as you ordered."

"And?"

"We tried to recruit him, my Lord, but he attacked us, along with the Aurors who were stationed at the arch. We spent hours trying to capture him-" But Voldemort held up a pale hand, and Lucius ceased his report.

"Aurors, you say? If I recall correctly, you informed me that the Aurors were more focused on the capture of Sirius Black."

"Not our Aurors, my Lord," he said. "Aurors from abroad. _From Rome."_

The hand stroking Nagini paused. That last detail had captured Voldemort's atttention. "Rome, you say?"

"Yes, my Lord."

Nagini curled around her master's arm, occasionally flicking her tongue out and glancing at her master's followers as if contemplating which one she would eat first.

"If that is all, you may leave."

Lucius bowed once more before leaving the room. However, a dirty rat-like man stood in front of Voldemort, shivering nonstop.

"Yes, Wormtail? Is there something you wish to say?"

"M-my Lord, there is s-something, someone that we e-encountered at the a-arch," Wormtail stammered. "A p-pers-son who was supposed to be d-dead by y-your hand-"

"Get to the point already," he sneered.

As Snape started towards the door, Wormtail mumbled something that he couldn't catch. Yet Voldemort had, for he stood from the armchair and looked at Wormtail in surprise, hissing the one name that Snape had never allowed himself to forget.

_"Lily Potter?"_

Snape ceased any movement towards the door and glanced at his student Lucian, who still hadn't left the room, Wormtail, then Voldemort, who was staring at Wormtail intently. Reading his mind.

"You're not lying," he said simply.

"My Lord, if I may speak-"

"I did not permit you to speak, Nightshade," he hissed.

Lucian hardly even flinched, nor did he flush from the harsh words of his master.

"However, what you have to share may be more audible than the blubberings of Wormtail," he jeered. "Go on."

"My Lord, I know the woman Wormtail speaks of, I was educated and trained alongside her the previous year-"

"Are you suggesting that the woman is not Lily Potter? That I am wrong?"

"No, my Lord," Lucian said quickly. "What I'm trying to say is, she has hidden herself among the Roman wizards so well, it would be nearly impossible to find her."

"I see."

"However, I know the alias that she has used for the last several years. She answers to the name Valor Rossini."

"Valor...Rossini, you say?"

"Yes," he answered.

* * *

Voldemort stroked the head of the restless Nagini.

"Years ago, I believed that Mudblood to be finished, the obstacle shielding her son from me fallen. Yet she shows her face now. How can this be, Nagini?"

The snake hissed softly.

_"You told me that Rome was the place where she committed her first murder, master. Where the woman had first used an Unforgivable Curse."_

An odd thought struck Voldemort. Yes, she had done exactly that : She had used _Avada Kedavra_ on one of his Death Eaters.

_"It couldn't be..."_

_"But it is."_

* * *

_Rome, 5:45 AM_

"Hey, Luke?"

Luke glanced at Julian. "What is it?"

"In that nightmare from yesterday, what did the kid look like?"

"Well," Luke tapped his chin. "Red hair and indigo eyes. Why?"

"If it weren't for the eyes-"

"Yes?"

"If it weren't for the eyes, the kid would look like a younger version of Valor."

* * *

_Nightshade Cottage, Thames River, 6:00 AM_

Lucian Apparated next to the river where he spent most of his childhood.

There was a simple yet large cottage with a white picket fence that surrounded the perimeter of the yard. Plants of all varieties grew everywhere. In his eyes, it was exactly what a garden was.

After all, this was the house where he grew up with his older brother.

An owl was perched on the small fence, carrying several letters. He took them, watching the bird fly off to an oak tree, before reading off the senders' names, when he reached one that he knew anywhere.

_Julian Nightshade_

_732 Neptune's Port_

_Latin Quarter, Rome_

He stared off to the east, where he knew Rome would be.

"I've kept your dirty little secret, _Lilione_," he said. "I hope you can realize who-no, _what_- you are, before Voldemort goes after you."

He pushed his left sleeve, revealing a leather bracer. It usually served as an arm-guard for an archer, but for Lucian, it provided another purpose. He removed it, a writhing black tattoo of a snake protruding from the mouth of a skull upon the pale skin of his forearm.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep lying for the both of us, Lily," he whispered, putting the bracer back on. "This is Voldemort we're dealing with, after all."

"But for now..." Lucian walked up to the door and pushed it open. "Mum! Julian sent us a letter!"

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Well? Any questions?_

_So sinistra is the Italian word for left, but it's also similar to sinister, which suits the left side of Janus pretty well. And destra is Italian for right._

_The name of the Italian Head of Auror Office, Achille Falco, suits him pretty well. Achille is the Italian form of the name Achilles, who died from being shot in the left heel, which Achille lost and had replaced after the First Wizarding War. As for Falco, it's Italian for "falcon", and Achille could track down and hunt his enemies like one._

_Valor means bravery in facing great danger, while Rossini means "little red head"._

_In other words, the alias Lucian had given Voldemort could literally be translated as "brave little red head."_

_And Luke's surname, di Mercurio, means "of Mercury" or "son of Mercury."_

_Now onto Sieg. Siegfried is derived from sigu "victory" and frid "peace", and Nacht is German for "night". In the myths, Siegfried had an Achilles' Heel too, which was actually a spot on the small of his back._

_Again, the meanings come from behind the name DOT com._

_As for the Black family tree, I might have created another Black when I saw that Alphard had no children._

_Now, can you guess why I used the numbers 732 in Julian's address?_

_Any questions or suspicions you would like to ask me, review!_


	6. Divine lily

_"Only love lets us see normal things in an extraordinary way. "_  
_Anonymous_

* * *

A word of warning: One of the genres of this story is suspense, so be prepared for twists and turns along the way. And also watch out for aliases as the story progresses, as some are about to be unveiled now.

* * *

Chapter 4

**_Divine lily, Lily Devine_**

_In the beginning... there was darkness. Darkness... with only a tiny sliver of light on the floor._

_The shadow room._

_Now, there was another source of light in the room._

_A candle sat on the floor, the smell of flowers filling the air. Now that there was an adequate light source, the interior could be viewed to an extant._

_The little girl picked up the candle and shoved it onto the old fashioned candleholder with a handle to allow it to be carried around. Although she might have wanted to hurry with it: the candle was melting quickly._

_The child had grown during her incarceration. She was at least a year older, though quickly approaching five now. A few inches taller, longer hair, but her eyes retained that indigo shade._

_She held the holder up by the curved handle, casting the light around the room. A few crates here and there, a cage containing a baby jackal, a hairband-wait, a jackal?_

_The toddler ran towards the jackal, who was now whimpering. It clawed at its cage, but unable to release itself. Human and jackal eyes met each other just once, yet the child saw enough to know that the canine wanted the same thing as her._

**_Freedom._**

_"Don't worry," she said, though she sounded unsure of herself. "I'll get you out of here. "_

_The jackal made a sound as if agreeing with either her determination or her doubt. But then she saw that the jackal was trying to get her attention back on the candle._

_It had already melted down._

_"Oops," she mumbled, before darkness spread his cape over the room._

* * *

Luke opened his eyes, having been shoved out of the nightmare. Instead of fear, he felt something even better:_surprise_.

Surprised-no, glad that the little girl had made a friend in the dark room. That is, if the jackal didn't eat the girl as soon as it was released.

_At least she's doing better_, he thought.

* * *

August 12, Rome, Italy, 4:01 PM

A young boy of seven ran up to the newspaper stand, where the vendor was giving slips of paper to people who appeared to have overpaid.

"Hello, Carlo," the vendor said, putting the extra money in a special box. "I suppose it's the usual?"

"I want a copy of the _Augury Per Diem_ along with it," Carlo said.

"Six Knuts."

The boy brought out six bronze coins and let them fall into the man's palm.

The vendor brought out two articles: one with a collection of moving comics and crosswords, with the title_ MagiComicos_; the other had several events, ads, and notices upon the pages. On the very cover were the words _Augury Per Diem_.

"Say, Mr. Acqua?"

"Hmm?" The portly vendor looked up from his coin box.

"Do you know who the best baker in the Latin Quarter is?"

Acqua rubbed his chin. "Baker, huh? See, lad, there's a number of bakeries here in the Quarter. But the tricky part is knowin' the really good ones. "

"Go on," the boy encouraged.

"So some bakeries are good enough to pass the Wizard Health Department, but when we come to the ones that are enough to make you drool, mm, now we speak Italian, boy. But in my opinion, the best baker would probably be Lily Devine, even though she's an unofficial baker. "

"You could've just said that," the boy mumbled.

"Are you being fresh with me, boy?"

"No, sir!" he said with a mock salute.

Another teenager gave the vendor ten Sickles and a slip of paper with a hurriedly scribbled message. Acqua brought out an orange slip and passed it to the young man.

"So what was that?" Carlo asked.

"Betting slips," Acqua said, placing the wager in the box as the teen walked away.

"What for?"

"First things first, you're going to Roman Academy next week, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"See, there's this one couple at the school that can just be so sweet yet so annoying at the same time. " Acqua sighed overdramatically. "Ah, love these days. All it takes is the cruel sting of Cupid's arrow. "

"So why is the couple annoying?" Carlo asked, trying to get the man back to his right mind.

"See, they're not exactly an official couple, but people call them a couple because it's obvious that they love each other. "

"Then what's the problem?"

"The boy is too much of an idiot to admit he loves her. Curse him!" Acqua waved his fist in the air. "You'd better admit it tonight or I'll lose my ten Galleons! Someday your idiocy will drive that girl away and you'll be stuck with some- " He let out something in their native tongue that Carlo couldn't understand. Probably because it was a swearword that meant-

"And the girl's pretty decent, hard to find these days. I mean, no man would throw her away, unless it was some pimp who wants her wealth or wants his kids to have her gift. To that, I salute them _farewell_!"

"But why do people think they'll finally get together tonight?"

A mad gleam appeared in the vendor's eyes. "Tonight is the Perseid meteor shower. "

* * *

In another part of Rome, the young Auror trainee Valor dusted herself off with one hand as she left the bakery,_ La Dolce Roma_, while carrying a bag of pastries in the other arm.

"Ciao, Miss Rossini," the baker said from the entrance.

"Ciao, Mr. Fiori. I hope all goes well at the night shift," Valor said.

"Actually, I decided to close early today," Fiori replied. "I wouldn't miss the Perseids for the world. "

"All right, then."

"Also, careful on your way home," the baker warned. "Some men have been attacking women who walk unaccompanied. " He nudged his head in the direction of an alley across the street, where four high schoolers were watching Valor with greedy little eyes.

Valor headed off down the busy street, fully aware that the boys were on her tail. However, they wouldn't dare to attack..._ yet_. Not in a street full of witnesses.

As she continued her path, she reached a block that was more empty than the previous. A place where one could be attacked and no one would notice.

Valor picked up her pace until she was several yards away but still in eyesight of the Muggle boys.

She took a left turn into a dark alley.

_With a dead end._

Now, normal girls who were being followed by stalkers would have panicked and tried to find another way out. But Valor wasn't a Muggle, and she was far beyond ordinary.

The brick wall was at least eight feet high, with only a trash can available for a boost. If there was enough light during the day, then you would see several white bricks among the red along with a single gold brick above the trash can. And if your vision was good enough, then the white bricks formed an arch and the golden brick would look something like a doorknob.

Valor reached the end of the alley, where she tapped the golden brick thrice before the Muggle boys appeared.

"Here, girly," one of them leered.

"Come on," the ugliest one, possibly the leader, jeered. "We just wanna play-"

But to their surprise and frustration, the red haired beauty they had _"innocently"_ followed was nowhere in sight.

"Aww, man," a third whined. "We let another hot one get away."

"So you're the bastards stalking my best friend. "

"Huh?" The leader pivoted, only to be greeted by a foot to his face. The minions tried to flee, if not for a kick to the groin that sent them all flying out of the alley and at the feet of the Italian police.

"Thank you for helping us catch these thugs," the policeman said, handcuffing them all. "Although you didn't have to hurt them that much. "

He stared down at the chained culprits. Taking out a file, he read off their names. "Michael Sanders, Greg Afner, Miles Arston, and last but not least, the ringleader, James Pygmy. All of you are American students studying abroad yet you failed to comply with our laws. We will contact your parents-"

"Our parents are gonna bail us out, _pasta lover_," Pygmy sneered.

"-and have you deported back to America," the policeman finished, glaring down at them all. "However, all of you are within or over the age of eighteen. It would be quite easy to imprison all of you now!"

"Bastards!" As all four Muggles were forced into the police cars, Pygmy glared at the young man who had interfered, who now smirked and waved them off as the car drove away.

"Finally," he sighed. He tapped his ear clip, which began to glow with a blue light. "Nightshade to Domatore, the Muggles have been arrested. "

"Nice job, Julian. Return home. "

"Got it. "

Julian walked down the alley, finding himself at the end already. He tapped the golden brick three times.

At the mouth of the alley, you could see a teen in front of the wall.

A truck passed by, and Julian was gone.

* * *

Valor walked out of the alley and reached the entrance to her world. It was almost a mirror of Muggle Rome.

Just a quarter of the actual city was large enough to host several families, have several neighborhoods, and manage a shopping district.

This is the wizarding district of Rome, known as the Latin Quarter.

The young lady known by her alias Valor wasn't the average Roman witch. She was known by different names in wizarding and Muggle Rome.

Among the Muggles, she was Valor Rossini. But here in the Quarter, her name was Lily Devine.

"Hey, Lily!"

"Ciao, Sieg!"

Lily sighed in content. The Latin Quarter was the one place where she could be herself. Not like the Muggle world, where she had to be known by a lie.

Her feet carried her down the familiar marble and yellow brick path until she found herself under an arch. And beyond that...

Seven suburban villas sat next to each other in a U formation, though each structure had enough room between for easy access to the backyard. A fountain stood proudly in the center of the U. And around the base of the fountain, where one could sit near the water, were the words_ Curia Fortunae_.

_Fortuna's Court._

The architect who designed the seven villas of Fortuna's Court had a strange way of numbering the houses. Instead of going left to right in order, the odd numbered villas were on the left while the evens were on the right. So the house on the left end would be Number 1 while its opposite on the other end was Number 2.

Lily strolled around the fountain and made her way to the house in the center, where a golden number 7 gleamed on the wall. Once at the door, she pushed it open.

"Grandma, Uncle Valor!"

Another reason why she hated lying: her given alias by Falco was her _uncle's_ first name.

"In here, Lilione!" came her uncle's voice from the kitchen.

She walked down the hallway of her family house, passing photos and mounted heads of magical creatures. One such poor predator had been a Nemean Lion.

As soon as she entered the living room, a furry canine tried to tackle her. But due to her groceries, the most the dog could do was lick the hand that carried the pastries.

"Hello to you too, Anubis," Lily said, scratching the canine's chin.

Anubis barked, wagging his long tail. He had dark fur that was recently groomed with a golden leather collar around his neck. He was an Anubian Jackal, a magical breed of dog from Egypt similar to their Muggle counterparts. The only difference was a certain ability inherited by his kind.

Umbrakinesis.

The ability to control shadows. Anubis-the god, not the dog- was the god of death and jackals, his sacred animal. It was believed by the Egyptian wizards that the Anubian Jackals were his servants, jumping out of the shadows to guide the souls of people on the verge of death.

But later they found out that they just loved to scare hell out of people.

Lily was seven when she had gotten him and, being a little kid, wanted to name him _Prince Anubis III._ But the dog expressed his disagreement and she settled for Anubis.

Once she set the pastries down on the table, Anubis trotted into the kitchen.

Her uncle stood near the stove with her grandmother, assisting her with the food they were going to eat during the meteor shower.

Lily's uncle was a man of thirty-eight, a member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by the name of Valor Devine.

He dusted himself off as he faced Lily. "Well, Lily Lion? Excited for tonight?"

"As if I wouldn't be," she replied. They grinned as Valor ruffled Lily's bangs.

If you looked at Lily and Valor long enough, you would notice that they had nearly identical features. Red hair, sharp heart shaped faces, almond eyes as sharp as a predator's, small straight noses, even the ears were identical! The only difference were their eye shades and Valor's glasses. Normal wizards and witches would think they were father and daughter.

Only they weren't.

Valor was her father's _twin_ brother.

* * *

The only things Julian took with him as he headed out were his wand, a picnic blanket, his house key, and his jacket.

He looked around, searching the sky for any meteors. That is, until he found a cloud with a peculiar look about it.

Julian picked up a pebble and started towards the tallest apartment complex he could find, passing a sign that read Portum Neptuni.

_Neptune's Port._

* * *

Luke leaned back, watching the sun set in the west.

The Perseids would arrive soon.

A small object flew towards him. He caught it easily with lightning reflexes. When he opened his hand, he found a pebble.

"Oi, airhead!" Luke stared down at Julian, now waving him over. "Come on, Lily's family's waiting for us at the outskirts!"

"Okay, then. " Luke jumped down, his winged sneakers carrying him back safely as he floated away from the clouds.

As soon as he landed, Luke suddenly five starred Julian in the back.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?"

"That was payback for the airhead comment," he said simply.

* * *

Several wizarding families sat clustered together as each tried to get the best spot to view the meteors. The scent of food wafted from every picnic blanket.

Luke bit into a saltimbocca while Julian enjoyed a Cotoletta alla milanese. Lily, on the other hand, went straight for the tiramisu. That is, if Anubis hadn't eaten it out of her hand while she searched for a fork.

A little ways from their spot, Sieg sat with his parents, also eating food.

Gasps of awe went around as the first meteors shot across the sky.

The constellation Perseus was more visible on this night than any other. After all, this was the night of the Perseids.

Julian found a spot that was conveniently both secluded and allowed a view of the shooting stars. He waved Lily over from the top of the hill.

Valor's eyes followed his niece, watching her climb up the hill with Julian.

"Let them be, Valor," Lily's grandmother, Valor's mother, said. "They do deserve a little time together. "

Valor relaxed from his tense posture, just a little. "I know I shouldn't be so overprotective," he said. "But I just... don't want her to put love before responsibility. "

Grandma Devine tilted her head. "Your brother would have been proud to know that you raised her as your own."

"It just scares me how she resembles the both of us. "

Grandma Devine's mouth quirked into a grin. "He didn't create her on his own. Now, there's just one question I've been meaning to just holler for the longest time. "

"And that is?"

"When is the boy_ FINALLY_ going to admit it? I'm not about to wait a decade for him to propose!"

Valor facepalmed himself. "Mother, exactly what did you gamble?"

"Twenty Galleons that the boy would just say something similar to 'I love you' but not the exact words. "

"Now I understand from who my brother got his reckless side. "

* * *

Luke tapped his ear clip. "The lovebirds are flying up to the tree, Sieg. "

"The birds have settled into the nest. "

"Sieg!" Luke backhanded his friend's arm. "You didn't have to make it sound that way!"

Even in the darkness, Sieg could see the one emotion on Luke's face that had been buried so well. "You're in love with her too, aren't you?"

"She's my best friend's best friend," he countered.

"And that's the hardest place to be: Between friend and, um, friend_lier_." Sieg emphasised the last two syllables. Only for his arm to meet another backhand.

* * *

Lily and Julian lied down flat on their backs, looking up at the meteor shower.

"There!" Julian pointed towards the southern sky. "That's Aries, the ram. "

"The ram, huh?" Lily tilted her head slightly. "There was a saying about that... "

"'In like a lion, out like a lamb'? What about it?"

"Just the lion part. It just stuck to me for some reason. " Lily watched a meteor slash through the constellation Draco. "I know it sounds silly, but I always wanted a kid named Leo. "

"Leo, huh? Leo the Lion. " Julian hummed thoughtfully. "Divine lion, Leo Devine. Has a ring to it. Hell, almost any name would go with Devine."

"But his surname won't be mine," she said. "It'll be his father's. "

"Oh." Julian stared at the constellation Perseus, along with Andromeda, the princess that the former had rescued and later married. "How come Valor didn't get married? I mean, he's the right age, he's good-looking, and some women are surprised to see him single. "

"Something happened to him a long time ago," Lily whispered, as if even mentioning it hurt her as well. "Before I was born. "

"What made him swear off women?"

"He had a fiancée," she recounted slowly,"and Uncle Valor was pretty much blinded by his love for her. They had their future planned out, and a week before the wedding, he found out that she was pregnant. "

"That must have made him happy," Julian said.

"Oh, it did," she agreed. "That is, until that day."

He sat up at the same time Lily did. "What happened?"

"It was the night before the wedding, Uncle Valor had come home from work early, and he heard noises from the bedroom. Naturally, he decided to investigate, but what he found broke his heart: his fiancée was in bed with another man. "

Julian sniffed a little, understanding how that would make Valor swear off women.

"But that wasn't even the cherry on top. The real deal breaker was when he found out the child wasn't his. " Lily tossed a pebble into the trees. "So just when he had it made, he lost it. The wedding was off, his fiancée became a prostitute, and people were starting to feel more sympathetic towards him. Nowadays, he doesn't even remember anything related to her. Not even the fact that he was going to be married. It's like he surpressed everything from the bad days. "

An eerie silence passed between them. Until a noise that sounded oddly like a sniffle came from the trees.

"Julian?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, I've been meaning to get this out for a while... so here I go." Lily took a deep breath. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Julian's eyes widened in surprise, but he could tell she wasn't finished. "And?"

"I'd do anything for you. "

* * *

"Yes, yes!" By now, nearly all of the teens who had come to view the Perseids were gathered in the forest, watching Lily and Julian intensely. "I think Julian's about to say the 'L' word!"

"Yeah, Julian!"

* * *

"I... adore you," Julian said finally.

Lily couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. "That's not the same thing. "

"It means exactly the same as the other word," Julian replied.

"Julian... you can be so much of an idiot sometimes. "

"All part of my plan to keep you interested. "

* * *

"Oh, give me a break!" One of the teens from their school crumpled his betting slip. "He didn't even say the word!"

Sieg, barely holding in a laugh, began to clap. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our answer. "

"And I owe you ten Galleons, don't I, Sieg?"

"Hold on, I think they're about to kiss!"

* * *

Lily and Julian leaned closer to each other, their lips close to meeting when-

"Lily! Come on, we're going!"

"Argh!" Lily and Julian pulled away from each other in frustration. "Your uncle has really bad timing," he said, standing up to stretch.

"That's what makes him Uncle Valor," Lily replied.

Julian frowned. "Didn't your uncle tell you anything about your parents?"

"Well... there was something... " Lily stared up at the meteors, but Julian knew she was trying to look for an excuse to not bring up her long-lost father. "Mhm, right... somewhere in '78, after the World Cup between Egypt and Italy, and Egypt lost so badly. So after the Cup, the Heads of each department who came to watch the tournament sat around for dinner, and the Egyptian Head of International Magical Cooperation, being a sore loser, was planning to poison my father. And when the wine came around, he made as if to reach for my dad's cup, when in truth he had a ring with a hollow stone full of poison. "

"Don't tell me he-"

"Sprinkled it in?" Lily finished. "Yup, but my uncle said that my dad saw what he had done. So my dad said,'Ladies and gentlemen, I want to propose a toast of friendship between the Italian and the Egyptian Ministry of Magic for a well played game of Quidditch, though I have no doubt in saying that some of those who have gathered here are quite frustrated with us. So to show my willingness to be friends with the Egyptian Ministry and their Head of International Magical Cooperation, Gahiji Harmiha, we'll swap glasses and drink each other's wine. '"

Julian, who had been drinking from a bottle of pumpkin juice, nearly spewed his drink. "And what happened?"

"The Egyptian head was in a fix after my dad had swapped their glasses. He couldn't not drink without giving insult, and he couldn't drink because he knew it was poisoned. "

"So what'd he do?"

"He fessed up, and he was arrested," Lily finished. "And apparently, that was the day before I was born. "

"Actually, I have something to confess," a voice said between them. Valor had appeared beside Lily. "Most of that story I told you was true, except for the last part. Maybe it was because I thought you'd have nightmares from it. Before they swapped glasses, the Egyptian head poisoned his own cup with the same iocane powder that he sprinkled into your father's cup, thinking if he had to die, he'd at least take your father with him. They drank, they waited, and the Egyptian fell dead on the spot, with his ring splitting open and spilling iocane powder all over the floor. "

"And what about dad?"

"How do you think my brother had you?"

Lily frowned in confusion. "But if he drank the poison-"

"He spent years building up an immunity to poisons while he was in school," Valor said, chuckling. "I always thought he was mad when he did that. Now I look back and say he's a genius. "

"Aww," Julian groaned. The meteors were still visible, but now they were starting to fade. "That fast?"

"Perseus was an agile hero," Valor said. "Lily, we'll be at the house. Don't stay out too long. "

He Disapparated as the last few meteors made their way across the sky.

"Hey." Lily poked his arm, causing Julian to jump in surprise. "At the arch last week, when Typhon was about to attack... you yelled at Lucian to get out of the way. "

"So?" Julian shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"You actually care about him, don't you?" Lily guessed.

"Not true." But Lily stared at him so intensely, he cracked. "Fine, I-I _do_ care, but not that much. It's just... someone had to keep an eye on the idiot. Is that a crime?"

"No," she said. "It just means that you're human. "

"Half-human," he corrected.

"Human to a certain extant," she concluded.

* * *

Sunlight poured into Lily's room, causing her to blink several times. Sitting up, she jumped out of bed only to find that she had stepped on Anubis' tail.

The dog yelped, and hid in the shadow of her desk.

"Sorry, Anubis," she mumbled, but the jackal refused to come out.

As she left her room, she could hear the distinct snores of her grandmother. Lily hurried downstairs, not wanting to wake her up knowing that she would refuse to stir until noon.

"Uncle Valor?" But there were no 'good mornings' from the kitchen, no sounds of breakfast being made, not even a whisper of his voice.

Assuming he went to work early, Lily looked around for a note, only to find a neatly wrapped box on the kitchen table.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she held the package in her hands.

_To Lilione_

She tore apart the wrappings, revealing an intricately designed wooden box containing a paper and-

Valor's glasses.

Her uncle's azure tinted glasses. Why would he just leave them to her, when he knew her vision was perfect?

Frowning, she opened the letter for an explanation.

_Lilione_

_I know I shouldn't just leave like this. But there is something that I want you to know. Your parents didn't die from sickness. They died... because they were being targeted. Your parents gave their lives to keep you safe, and now it seems I must do the same._

_These glasses have been passed down the direct line of our family for generations, changing its appearance to the bearer's liking. These were in your possession when your parents died, but being so young, I held onto them for you. Now it's your turn to see beyond what the rest could._

_Remember, these glasses can show you the place where destinies are changed._

_Your uncle,_  
_R. Valor Devine_

Lily slipped on the glasses. To her surprise, the glasses didn't mess up her vision. In fact, everything looked the same, just with a bluish tint.

"What do you mean,_ 'seeing beyond'_, Uncle Valor?" Lily asked herself as she held a picture frame. The photograph showed her, Valor, and Lily's grandmother the day Lily was on her way to school.

She blinked, taking off her glasses momentarily. The photo held just the three of them.

But when she put the glasses back on, she knew she hadn't imagined it.

Behind Lily were two adults in their mid-twenties. The man looked exactly like Uncle Valor. The woman with her hand on Lily's shoulder was a tall, pretty dark-haired woman with glittering purple eyes. But that hadn't been the only thing to catch her attention.

They were transparent.

Behind Lily were the ghosts of her late parents.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Boy, nearly everyone in the Latin Quarter knows that Lily and Julian are in love with each other._

_So in this story, the Latin Quarter is the Italian equivalent of Diagon Alley in Britain, only it's not just a shopping area. People actually live there._

_In case some of you are wondering, the Augury Per Diem means "predictions daily", so it's like the Italian version of the Daily Prophet. As for the comics the Carlo asked for, I was on a translation website when I typed in 'magical comics' in Italian. The result was 'magico comicos' so I combined them and voil . MagiComicos._

_La Dolce Roma is an actual bakery in Italy, but I have no idea of the current owner's name. But fiori is Italian for "flower"._

_The Anubian Jackal part was sort of like improv, but I had to fit the jackal in after the beginning of chapter._

_Julian's Auror mentor's surname is Domatore, which pretty much means trainer._

_Don't you just feel sad for Lily's uncle, the real Valor? How something like that would make him surpress everything related to his ex-fianc e?_

_As for the Quidditch World Cup, it's held once every four years, so knowing that the 422nd was in 1994, '78 would have been the 418th._

_And for the poison, I got the idea while I was reading The Golden Compass, Chapter 8. But instead of snake venom, I used iocane powder._

_Now, for the Muggles who were arrested in this chapter, if anyone's name is actually one of the mentioned criminals, I meant no harm, I just didn't know._

_For this chapter, I give credit to Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, because that's where I got the part between Lily and Jullian from, and the Princess Bride, from where I got the iocane powder idea._

_Don't just read. Any questions you wish to ask, review!_


	7. Seeing beyond

_"Seeing within changes one's outer vision. "_  
_-Joseph Chilton Pearce_

* * *

Chapter 5

_**Seeing Beyond**_

_Don't you see_

_Behind that door_

_Someone waits alone_

_always fighting the darkness_

_Fighting the chains that bind_

**_Lilione_**

**_I know I shouldn't just leave like this. But there is something that I want you to know. Your parents didn't die from sickness. They died... because they were being targeted. Your parents gave their lives to keep you safe, and now it seems I must do the same._**

**_These glasses have been passed down the direct line of our family for generations, changing its appearance to the bearer's liking. These were in your possession when your parents died, but being so young, I held onto them for you. Now it's your turn to see beyond what the rest could._**

**_Remember, these glasses can show you the place where destinies are changed._**

**_Your uncle,_**  
**_R. Valor Devine_**

Lily rushed up to her grandmother's room, hoping that if anyone knew what happened to her uncle, it would be his mother.

She tried the doorknob, but not once did it budge.

_"Alohomora?"_ she said. But instead of unlocking, the most it did was rattle the doorknob around.

"Oh, for crying out loud. " Lily knew which spell she might as well use. But it would come with a drawback in the form of Grandma Devine...

Forget her wrath, she thought as she pointed her wand at the door and yelled," Bombarda!"

The door was blasted apart, sending splinters in every direction, causing Anubis to retreat to the shadows again.

Lily marched into her grandmother's room as the smoke cleared away, thinking that if she had to face a lecture, she might as well get it over with.

But to her astonishment, Grandma Devine slept peacefully on her bed, not even stirring from her slumber. It was as if she had no idea of her granddaughter blasting her door.

"Um...grandma?" Lily tentatively tiptoed over to the elderly woman, unsure if her grandmother really was asleep, or if it was just a plot to get her guard down so she would think she was spared a lecture. "Granny?"

On normal days, that would have been Grandma Devine's pet peeve and would have woken her instantly. But she merely grumbled something in Italian and turned over in her doze.

Lily inched toward the door carefully, keeping a sharp ear, when her grandmother spoke.

She was prepared for a lecture, and a few possible pinches. She was even prepared for the Second Wizarding War!

But Lily did not expect to hear her grandmother to speak in a calm, drowsy voice.

"Have to open...that one... forbidden door..."

"Huh?" Lily pivoted on the spot, staring at her grandmother with confusion. But the old lady was still slumbering.

Grandma Devine let out another snore, before she mumbled,"The door...need to...let them out..."

Assuming it was her mind going senile, she stepped over the rubble and stood on the other side of the broken wall, staring at the destruction she made. "Might as well fix it before she wakes up. "

"Reparo Maxima. " The fragments of door and wall converged to their former places as they resealed back together, leaving no evidence that the wall had ever been destroyed.

As Lily stood there admiring her handiwork, Anubis came back out and brushed against her leg. She patted his head, wondering if Grandma Devine would even notice.

"That's better," she said to herself, now heading down the stairs with the jackal at her side.

But as they set foot on the ground floor, Anubis whimpered, circling the table three times before crawling under it.

"Anubis?" Lily knelt next to her pet, unsure of why he was like this.

The Anubian Jackal whined, covering his eyes with his paws as if something had suddenly spooked him.

Something—

—or_ someone._

Lily rose to her feet, expecting a sound that would reveal an intruder. It was as if this were no longer her house, like she had unknowingly strolled into enemy territory.

The smell of smoke hit her nose. Hard. So much, it even brought tears to her eyes. Lily's head snapped towards the living room, where, to her horror, the fire in the hearth had somehow spread to consume half of the ground floor.

But that wasn't the interesting part: she hadn't even_ touched_ the hearth.

"Aguamenti!" A jet of water shot out of her wand, trying to extinguish the flames.

But the spell had the absolute opposite effect of what she needed.

It added on to the fire.

Lily admitted one thing: she was terrified. She couldn't think of a spell that would completely put out the fire.

But there was one spell. However, she would most likely flood the entire ground floor.

To hell with it.

_"Aguamenti Deluvium!"_

Water burst from the tip of her wand once more, but this time, it came out in multiple spouts, even more effective than the normal form of Aguamenti. Flames died down, meeting their death by an endless flood. Squeals and whines filled the air as the final ember hissed away.

Lily ceased the spell, watching the water level sink slowly as the water escaped through any crack they could find. Keyholes, vents, even through a window opened by her.

Lily looked around the first floor. Everything was soaked. Porcelain vases now sat on the ground, the rug was making squishing sounds under her feet, and Anubis shook himself dry.

Just as she worried about cleaning it all up without alerting Grandma Devine, all hell broke loose.

_Everything that had been drenched by the water suddenly sprung back into flames._

The table where Anubis had hidden under was set alight, the rug burned to a crisp, even the couch was aflame!

And somehow, when the inferno had returned—

—_the flames had started from the basement door._

But they didn't _have_ a basement.

_Right?_

Lily ran towards the basement door, her wand at the ready, when Anubis blocked her path.

"Let me through!" she insisted. Usually, the jackal was obedient, never failing to follow an order. But Anubis held his ground, barking at her wildly.

Lily managed to run past him, though Anubis gave chase.

Strangely, the door to the basement was the only thing in the house not burning to ground. As though it were impervious to the fire.

She skidded to a halt at the door, with Anubis flanking her left, growling at the door. Behind the door, she could hear something echo Anubis' growls. Lily grabbed the door with her left hand—

—when the entire door disentegrated.

She had expected a thief, a criminal, even Voldemort! But standing in front of her—

—was a girl who looked exactly like her, with an Anubian Jackal at her right side.

It was like looking at a mirror in a haunted house, showing her a twisted reflection of herself. The girl was her exact height and age, with all of the sharp physical features of a Devine. She even had red hair! The jackal could have passed for Anubis' twin.

But there were differences.

The jackal's fur was matted and filthy, as though no one had given him a bath. The girl was gaunt and scrawny, giving her a frighteningly beautiful appearance.

Whereas Lily was still in her pajamas, the girl was wearing jeans and a ragged shirt.

Lily's eyes were green, hers were indigo.

Lily held a wand in her right hand—

_—and the girl held a knife in her left._

"You!" The girl snarled, her jackal copying his master. Anubis began to bark at the other jackal when the girl from the basement charged at Lily, followed by her canine, who promptly tackled Anubis.

"Rictu—" Lily was never able to finish the spell when the girl knocked her wand out of her hand.

Lily tried to land a roundhouse kick to the girl's ribs, only for the other to grab her leg and throw her onto the ground on her back.

The girl poised the knife over Lily's heart, raising her arm above her head before bringing it down.

The knife was about to pierce her chest when—

_SSPPLAASSHHH!_

Lily woke up, shivering to the bone. She sat up, her bed and her clothes drenched in cold water. And at her bedside, the culprit stood there, with an empty bucket in his arm.

"You have no idea how much I needed that," Lily said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Luke said, setting the bucket down and grabbing a chair from her desk to sit on. He passed her a towel, which Lily used to dry her hair off.

"How'd you get in here?" she asked.

"A few knocks on the front door, one chat with your uncle, and Anubis led me up to your room," he said, whistling to the chair's shadow. The Anubian Jackal leaped out, wagging his long tail.

Lily let her eyes wander, trying not to focus on her nightmare when she saw her blanket on the ground, torn and tossed carelessly. Next to it, a broken jar that had once contained delicately spun glass beads from Venice. Once meaning that the said beads had shattered to tiny pieces.

Luke followed her eyes and shook his head. "From your nightmare," he said a little unnecessarily. "Your uncle woke up when he heard you screaming in your sleep. When he came in, you were tossing and turning like crazy, ripping your sheets while you were at it. As soon as you threw them, he tried to get you out of whatever nightmare you were having. But he couldn't even get a single hand on you without his skin being seared. He's still got the blister. "

"So what were doing when you came over?"

"To give you the invitation letters from RAMC that you were going to deliver," he said. "But your uncle said that you were in a nightmare so I asked for three buckets of water."

"Three?" Sure enough, when Lily looked at the bucket Luke had set down, two others sat next to it.

"How bad was it?" Luke asked, concern in his eyes.

"Horrible," she muttered, ceasing her attempts at drying her hair. "Like some horror movie gone wrong. "

"What was it about?"

Lily put a hand to her forehead, an aching feeling that she couldn't stop was overtaking her mind.

"You don't have to tell me," he said quickly. "If it was as horrible as you said, then— "

"No." Lily closed her eyes, straining to remember a nightmare that she had no idea of why she had it. "Uncle Valor was gone, Grandma Devine kept muttering about a door in her sleep, the entire ground floor was on fire, and every spell that I tried to put it out with only helped it. And it all started at the basement door. "

"But you don't have a basement," Luke pointed out. "Just the ground and three upper floors. "

"I know...I know— " Another migraine seized her brain and she yelled out, holding her head. Her right hand spasmed involuntarily before it lashed out, sending her lamp crashing to the floor.

"Whoa, you're not fine, I'm getting Valor up here— "

"I'm fine," she mumbled, trembling to the bone now.

"No, you're not," he said.

"Yes, I am," she insisted stubbornly. "I ran to the basement door, only Anubis tried to block me. But I got past him and reached the door— " A shock ran through her as she shivered more violently. "The door turned to ashes when I touched it and then I was looking at a twisted version of myself holding a knife. She tried to stab me but then you woke me up. "

"A twisted version of yourself?" Luke repeated, a confused look on her face.

"Yeah. " Lily examined her hand as if expecting a kind of mark from the nightmare. "She looked like me, except she was scrawny, ragged, and had evil-looking indigo eyes. "

Luke jolted backwards, nearly sending himself falling with the chair._ "Indigo?"_ he asked as he set the chair right.

"Yeah, indigo. Why, was there something about it?"

"No, no," Luke replied a little too quickly.

But there was something. However, Luke wasn't about to admit that he had nightmares of a younger version of her with indigo eyes trapped in a dark room with a jackal while the people behind the door were the ones who had locked her in there.

"You know something?" Luke said, changing the topic. He stood up, just wandering around her room. "Of all the times I've been to your house, I've never actually been in your room. "

"Are you serious?" Lily asked, now getting up from the bed as the mattress dried itself along with the cover.

"What? You figured that I'd actually sneak into your room, given my usual habit of breaking in and almost always getting away with it?"

"No," she said. "It's just that... every time you headed for the bathroom and hardly even came back until fifteen minutes, I always thought you were in here. "

"Nope," he answered, popping the 'p'. "The first time, I was coming back down when I found this one room on the second floor. It had a lion carved into the door "

"I think Uncle Valor said that that was my dad's room," Lily interrupted.

"But I couldn't break in because the lion, well, roared at me," he finished sheepishly.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "It_ roared_ at you?"

"Is there something wrong with being scared off by a carved lion in mahogany?" Luke asked.

"No," she said. " I just think that you got off easy. "

"Pray tell. "

"When _I_ tried to get in, the lion ran across the wood and_ bit_ me. "

Luke almost fell on his knees, trying to hold back a laugh. "It _bit_ you?"

"Yeah, and it gave me a splinter to remember it by. "

Luke smiled at the thought when he found himself in front of a wall covered in newspaper clippings and photos. He hadn't realized that he had waltzed into an alcove not too far from the window.

"What's this?"

"That's, um, my personal hideaway," Lily mumbled.

He scanned the photos and clippings when he found one that, on the rarest occasions, made him envious of her.

Valor held a six-month old child in his lap, the infant waving a clenched hand at her uncle. By then, Lily had tufts of red hair. Baby Lily opened her eyes—

—revealing an astonishingly bright pair of _indigo_ eyes.

Luke blinked several times, even pinched himself to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

But lo and behold, the indigo eyes were there to stay.

"Lily Lion?"

"Yeah?" she answered, though annoyed that he had used her nickname.

"Is it just me, or are your eyes in this photo indigo?"

"Now that you mention it " Lily stood next to him, searching for a photo that might explain things. "Uncle Valor told me that I got into an accident when I was a year old, and that was when my eyes appeared more green. " She tapped a photo northeast of the one that Luke had found. In this one, Lily was already walking, although she tripped from time to time. But it was clear that her eyes were green now.

"What accident?" he asked.

Lily's eyes narrowed, and Luke thought that she didn't want to bring it up. But then he realized that she was having another migraine as soon as she put a hand to her head.

"I'm all right," she said faintly. "It's getting weaker now. I just need a glass of water. "

"You do that," he said, still letting his eyes roam all over the wall.

Until he reached a cut-out newspaper clipping from the _Augury Per Diem_, yellowed with age.

It was dated 28 October, 1979. A chill ran through Luke as he remembered what their History of Magic professor had said about that date. The worst battle during the war, the first that had taken place in Rome. The Latin Quarter had been attacked by the Death Eaters and Voldemort, and the Aurors of Rome were aided by wizards from other countries, those brave enough to continue resisting. Muggles had been evacuated with the excuse of dangerous gas leaks, in case the battle had to be taken to their part of Rome, but in the end, the Roman Aurors and those who helped them were victorious, three Death Eaters were found dead, and the rest had been chased out. And as the victors searched for survivors, a one year old had been found.

That battle was known as the Barrage of the Latin Quarter.

As Luke read over the clipping, he found a picture that explained Lily's "headache" from earlier.

A little one-year old with tufts of red hair was dug out of the rubble from the battle she had unknowingly wandered into. And under that

_**"One-year old Lilione "Lily" Devine found in the aftermath of the barrage. "**_

It's no wonder she doesn't remember or want to talk about it, he thought. She was the infant that got caught up in the battle.

"Hey, Luke. " Luke turned around to see Lily standing next to him. How did she get in so quietly? "Can you hand me the letters that I have to deliver?"

"Huh? Oh, that. " Luke pulled a stack of letters out of his messenger bag, handing them off to Lily.

The aroma of breakfast wafted into the room, and he caught the smell of— "I smell bomboloni," was all he said before he raced downstairs , trying to beat Anubis.

Lily shook her head, smiling as she headed into her bathroom for a shower.

As she closed the door and locked it behind her, she saw a glint of purple in the mirror. She wheeled around, staring at her own reflection.

Nothing. Just her red-haired, green-eyed reflection stared back at her, as if she had only imagined the color purple.

Looking back at her reflection only made her, on the rarest occasions, hate her appearance and the fact that Valor and her long-gone father were identical twins.

For years, her uncle and grandmother would tell her she looked exactly like her father, only more feminine with green eyes, her mother's ears and smile. But to the rest of the Latin Quarter, they would say she looked exactly like her uncle, and they would either ask if she was his daughter or they would immediately recognize her as his niece.

She wished that someone would just say "You're Lilione". Instead, it was always "You're Valor's niece".

She turned her head to the left. Just near the tragus of her right ear, on the border between her right cheek and ear, was a distinct inch-long, golden mark that, if Lily turned in a certain angle, would have the appearance of a flame. Unless her rune studies were off, then the mark itself meant something along the lines of _burn_. Thankfully, the symbol never _really_ burned her ear off. Whenever she asked how she had gotten it, Valor would always reply,"From the barrage when you were a baby. Try not to dig up bad memories from those years. "

Those years. Meaning the dark days. The first war.

There. There it was again. The fleeting glint of indigo in her eyes before they disappeared, replaced by her green eyes.

She was becoming more scared— no, terrified than ever. It was as if the morning hated her today. Hated her so much that it convinced night to give her a nightmare and for the mirror to play tricks with her.

To prank her by showing her the girl in her nightmares.

But something told her that it was trying to tell her something, that Indigo Eyes wanted a chance to talk to her.

As crazy as it already were, she thought, _Why not?_

"Are you trying to tell me something?" she asked her reflection.

She half-expected a knock on the door and someone asking her why she was talking to herself. In fact, she didn't expect the reflection to react at all.

But then came the surprising part.

Her reflection nodded, indigo eyes replacing the green now. It seemed to mouth something to her...something like...

_You're getting closer._

"Closer to what?" she asked her indigo-eyed counterpart.

_To freeing me..._

"I freed you in the nightmare, and you tried to kill me. What do I need to free you from now?"

_From—_

Her counterpart faded, green chased away indigo, and staring back at her this time was her frowning and puzzled reflection.

"From what?" repeated Lily and her reflection.

* * *

As Lily dressed into casual clothes, she looked over the seven letters of exchange trip acceptance that she was to deliver. One to a ten-year old in India, which her headmistress set an appointment with to meet the wizarding family; two in Bulgaria, which would be difficult, as her Bulgarian was_ incredibly_ horrible; one to a family in Romania, who were poor but managed to pay for the fall term; another two to families in Spain, which was a good thing, as the Italian and Spanish languages were similar enough; and the last to a family in a village in Britain called Little Hangleton.

Lily yanked her Converse shoes on, lacing them up before pulling on her navy boucle jacket. Stylish as it was, it was her school jacket, with the crest of an eagle carrying a shield with its clawed feet, the shield embellished with the purple letters RAMC on her upper right sleeve.

Anubis trotted into the room, with a plate of brioche and bomboloni.

"Thanks, Anubis," she said, scratching behind his ears.

Where the pastries had been were now replaced by crumbs, which Anubis began to lick up.

As she tied her hair up in a braided bun, with a bomboloni in her mouth, she grabbed her lucky hairband, a silver and blue band with stars and lions woven into it, to secure the braid before twisting it into a bun.

She never really understood why she considered the hairband lucky. Maybe it was because Valor said it was made for her by her mother. Or maybe because it had something to do with both of her parents, even though she had never met them. Of course, she always imagined her father to be a mirror image of Uncle Valor.

But that was never enough.

Getting that thought out of her head, she grabbed her pins and fastened several loose hairs back. The crescent moon clip always secured the hairs on her left, the bobby pins on her right. This was so she could have easy access to her archery weapons, just in case.

A stubborn bang freed itself from the bobby pins and stretched across her left eye.

Another thing that she inherited from her father: his bangs. Uncle Valor had them too, but his bangs were always on the right. That was one of the rare features that helped Grandma Devine distinguish her twin sons when they were young: her father on the left, Valor on the right.

Lily checked her messenger bag to make sure she had everything she needed.

Exchange trip letters?

Check.

Pouch of money for lunch and doorways?

Check.

Notebook with pencils and pens?

Check.

Two wands?

Check.

Mirror?

Check.

Weapons in the guise of hairpins?

Double check.

Crossbow?

_Oh, yes._

Lily threw a Galleon into her keyhole.

The door yawned. "Morning, miss. Now, unless I'm mistaken, you have an appointment with a family in India in about oh, half an hour?"

"Best get there now," Sinistra said. "They like to be punctual, Indians. "

"Thanks for the advice, sinistra," Lily said as the door opened, revealing a crowded marketplace.

* * *

Lucian knelt before Voldemort, who was now pacing the room, robes billowing behind him.

"A wizarding family lives in this village, my Lord," Lucian said. "I also know that the one delivering that letter is_ her_. "

"So you expect me to believe that _she'll_ be lured into this trap by you?"

"Indirectly," he added.

Nagini flicked her tongue out, holding the young Death Eater's gaze as she curled around Voldemort's arm.

"Anything else about her that I should know?"

"Well— " Lucian swallowed. "There was a time...I know that _she_ can take on ten wizards at once and still stand. "

"So she has changed. Now if only our ranks were _stronger_..." Voldemort brandished his wand, and for a moment, Lucian thought that he knew he was lying.

"Relax, Nightshade. The death is for the woman who I will decimate for eternity. " He waved his hand impatiently. "You are dismissed. "

Lucian stood from his position and left the living room, walking briskly as he left.

He had only just entered the foyer when a voice called him.

"Lucian. "

The youth turned on his heel, facing the questioner. "Sir?"

"Do you really think she would let herself be lured into this trap?"

Lucian tilted his head. "You would already know that, wouldn't you, Professor Snape?"

"I asked for your opinion, Lucian."

"And I never volunteered it, did I?"

The wizards brandished their wands at each other, black eyes glaring at purple.

Lucian narrowed his eyes, meeting his teacher's glower with a strange aura of enigma.

"You can see the future?" Snape asked.

"I can see your death," Lucian replied. He tossed his wand into the air, catching it in midair when it transformed into a serrated silver knife. "Every possibility, each one more gruesome than the last. It's annoying, really. " He pointed the tip of the blade at his teacher.

"You wouldn't dare," Snape hissed.

"You're right," Lucian stated flatly, lowering the knife. "Not even if I could. "

He had no idea what came over him as he smirked and added,"But who knows? Maybe _she'll_ be the one to finish you off. "

He heard the spell before it was cast. Lucian stomped on the floor with his left foot, and he took into the air before the Cruciatus Curse hit him. The wings on his sneakers fluttered restlessly, keeping him above.

"You cast it with the intent to kill," Lucian noted.

"Then let it be a warning as to when you should keep your mouth shut," Snape warned.

"I'm more afraid of him than I ever will of you. In fact, you're practically a _flobberworm_ compared to the Dark Lord. "

"Get out of my sight," he hissed.

Lucian mock saluted his teacher and flew off, reaching the landing above him before sneering. He wasn't about to let his superior have the last laugh.

"Which do you prefer then? To_ kill_ the woman who held your heart, or to _be killed_ _by_ her? It's a Hobson's choice, but when the time comes, you'd best decide, Snape. "

Unless his ears were deceiving him, he had just heard Snape break open a door. Looking down from the third landing, the splintered wood on the ground confirmed it.

* * *

Lily left the Adani residence with a box of fruit. The family had been so overjoyed to know that their son had been accepted to the school for one semester, they didn't know how to thank her, though she tried to tell them no gift was necessary.

It wasn't until her stomach roared that they convinced her to have food.

She opened the box that she was given. A banana, a mango, and three coconuts.

_Coconuts..._

Her vision blurred, the painful migraine from the morning had returned.

She sat down on the nearest bench, holding her head in her hands as the migraine worsened.

_What's going on? Why am I— ?_

* * *

_She saw a large dining hall with five long tables set with food, plates, and silverware. Students sat in the four tables running parallel to the wall while teachers sat behind the table at the top of the stone steps. Above the four tables were different banners: a scarlet banner with a lion; a raven against a blue background; a badger upon yellow; and a snake set into the green banner._

_A young man with unruly black hair, glasses, and hazel eyes held a coconut in his hands, his knuckles turning white as another boy with long dark hair tauntingly ate a treacle tart._

_The youth with the glasses cracked and chucked the coconut at his friend, hitting him square in the jaw._

_The long haired boy fell from his seat, though he stood and threw a quiche at the first. He dodged, and it ended up hitting a boy from the next table over._

_A boy from another table got up and yelled something— food fight, possibly— before the students dining in the hall began chucking food in all directions._

_A girl from the table with the scarlet lion pulled another girl under the table. A girl—_

_—who looked exactly like her._

_Red hair and almond green eyes. The only difference were their facial structures. Lilione had sharp angles whereas the girl was more rounded off._

_An old man seated at the head of the table stood from his seat and yelled at the students at the top of his lungs. Strangely, to Lily, he looked exactly like a somewhat younger version of—_

_**"Dumbledore?"**_

_The entire hall faded, and she could've sworn that before she was pushed out, the other red-haired girl sneered and said something to her...something like..._

**_As long as you don't go snooping around, you will never feel pain._**

**_Now stay out of my way._**

_"What?"_

* * *

Lily blinked, both the migraine and the illusion gone, and she was back in the marketplace in Bombay.

Why did she have that vision? As far as she could make out, the dining hall at school was never that size. In fact, it was more grand. And they never had a food fight.

But Dumbledore was there, meaning that the dining hall was part of Hogwarts.

_But then who was the red-haired girl that had threatened her?_

A small tug at her jacket pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked to her right, where a little girl with mocha colored skin sat.

"Hmm?" The little girl pointed at the box, and Lily realized that the child was hungry. She grabbed the first thing that she saw— soft coconut meat in a shell,_ copra_, she remembered—and offered it to her.

The little girl took it eagerly, jumping down from the bench and saying a quick thank you before running off.

Lily decided that she should eat too, so she helped herself to the mango. Biting into the sweet fruit, she watched the market vendors and their customers haggling with each other, both trying to settle with a price they preferred. The buyer sought lower, the seller higher. Or there would be people trying to pawn off items for more than its worth. Some getting lucky, and others being chased off.

_It's not so different_, she decided as she started on the banana._ It's a lot like Rome. But I can't enjoy it for long._

She stood up, wrapping up the other two coconuts and placing them in her bag as she headed for a deserted alley with a door on one side. She threw a Galleon into the small keyhole.

"Where to this time?" it asked calmly.

"Varna, Bulgaria. "

"Bulgaria, huh?" came the sneering voice. "Did you know that there's a town there called Roman?"

"You've told her at least once a day," came the calm voice in an exasperated tone as the door swung open.

"I hope your Bulgarian's good!" yelled the left side of the door.

"You and I both know it isn't!" she hollered.

* * *

_Varna, Bulgaria_

As Lily wandered the neighborhood for 334 Spider's Nest, a little girl ran past her, dashing to the front door of 333. The door opened, revealing a grown man who the girl resembled greatly. Her father, perhaps? A woman came over, wearing a light apron, ushering her daughter and her husband inside.

A pang of jealousy ran through Lily when the door closed. That could've been her life. Had her parents never left her behind, she could've been raised by them; growing up in the Latin Quarter, coming home from school with her parents waiting for her. Instead, it was just her father's identical twin and the twins' mother, Grandma Devine.

She arrived at 334, a relatively ordinary two-story house with a garden in the back.

No mailbox, not even a slot. So she had to deliver it to them herself. She sighed. And here she thought it would be easier.

Lily marched up to the door, taking a deep breath before taking hold of the knocker.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door opened, a formidable but kind-looking woman stood in front of her.

_"Zdravei_," Lily said, trying the Bulgarian word for hello.

The woman smiled. "Your Bulgarian's quite horrible, dear. "

"You can speak English?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"How do you know I'm speaking in English? Maybe we're both speaking Italian. "

_"Perch— ?"_ Lily cut herself off, realizing that they had been speaking Italian, and that she had just been about to say the word why.

"Is there something that you came here for?" The woman asked.

"Wha— yes, in fact. " Lily pulled out the exchange trip letter. "Your son managed to get into our exchange trip program. "

The woman took the letter, her hands shaking as she whispered,"For years, Anton had begged for an exchange trip to your school, he wanted to become a Hit Wizard, you see. He wrote to the school, but they never answered...until now. "

* * *

_Baia Mare, Romania_

Lily finished delivering the two letters to Spain. The families had started speaking excitedly in rapid Spanish, which she was barely able to follow.

She sat down on a park bench near the pond, having just finished a delivery to a Romanian family. Said family had been out so she left the letter with the owl she found in their barn.

Staring at the pond, she watched children running across the bank, their parents strolling behind them. A happy Muggle family with absolutely no idea of the world of magic. Not at all aware that a storm giant was wreaking havoc or the fact that the most feared Dark wizard had returned.

Ignorance really was bliss.

"I beg to differ."

Lily nearly jumped from her seat. Julian sat next to her, peeling an orange. "When did you— ?"

"I just got back from Hungary, thought I'd visit Romania," Julian said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Did you know I just met my great-grandfather on my mum's side there?"

"Your great-grandfather?" Lily grabbed an orange slice that fell from Julian's grip. "I knew your mother was part-Hungarian, but I didn't expect her grandfather to still be— well— "

"Alive?" Lily nodded, taking a bite of the orange. "That's what I thought, too. But it turns out that he's a hundred-nineteen, but he still passes for sixty. " Julian devoured the rest of his orange. "Course, it's nothing compared to your talent," he added.

"Not— true..." Lily held her stomach, an aching feeling stirring in her gut.

"What's wrong? Was it the orange?" Julian asked, now starting to worry for her. Luke had told him how strange Lily had been acting since morning, but he hadn't believed it...until now...

"Can't be...I've eaten oranges since I was a kid...I can't be allergic to them now..." Lily groaned and leaned back, placing a hand on her forehead, as if the ache in her stomach had reached her head.

"Lily?"

"I— " Lily looked up, meeting Julian's deep blue eyes, when the both of them received a shock.

Reflected in Julian's eyes, and directly staring at her in the face, Lily's eyes were now_ indigo_, the color of a peaceful night. Mere shades away from Lucian's purple eyes. Like someone had mixed blue and purple paint and coated over the green.

"Lily— your eyes..." Julian stammered, trying to blink as hard as he could to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Why are they indi— " Lily's face tensed, and Julian thought that her stomach ache was getting worse.

But then Lily relaxed, the indigo in her eyes slowly shifted colors, like a kaleidoscope. First indigo, then blue, and finally returning to its green shade.

"Are you all right?" he asked, uncertain of Lily's well-being.

"Yeah...I'm better..." she mumbled. "Why shouldn't I?"

Julian leaned closer to her, and for a moment, Lily thought that he would kiss her. Their foreheads were nearly touching.

But his pale hand stretched out, feeling her forehead, checking for a temperature.

"You don't have a fever," he said, nuzzled in her hair. "That's good. " Julian stood up, looking around when his eyes found a lone slug in the flower bed near their bench. He tossed the orange peel into the garden, causing the slug to crawl away.

"It's actually a good slug repellent," he said, dusting his hands off. "If only the Muggles would stop destroying the world, trying to make life easier when they only complicate it. "

"We're no different than the Muggles, though," Lily said, glancing at the sky. "It's true that we don't live _like_ them...but we exist _alongside them_. We feel...the same emotions that they do. We feel pain, we_ inflict_ pain, and we fall in love in the most weirdest ways possible. "

"And then there were rogues," he added, referring to blood traitors. "Rogue purebloods who choose to adopt the Muggle lifestyle yet hang onto their magical heritage. Like you. And then you'll be off having pureblooded babies who'll grow up as decent as you. Then again, there's always one rotten apple in the bunch. "

Lily made a face. "I don't want to marry a pureblood. Then again, a pureblood would want nothing to do with me. Unless they're prepared to be blasted off the family tree. "

She stood from her seat, making her way to the pond, looking down at the water. Her reflection stared back at her, looking at her almost with disapproval. "Is it wrong," she asked,"to marry who we want, without a single care for blood status?"

"No," Julian said. "That just means you're human. "

* * *

August 13, Little Hangleton, 6:06 PM

"I'm so glad my daughter made it into the exchange program, she doesn't even know how to thank you properly," a woman said to Lily and Julian, accompanying them outside.

"It's fine knowing that your daughter's eager to attend," Lily said. "That's satisfaction enough. "

"If you insist... farewell!"

"It was nice meeting you!" Julian said. As soon as they were out of eyesight, he relaxed. "The mum's really supporting her daughter's future. I mean, neither of them would stop talking about the daughter's career. "

"Yes, but I can understand how they feel. After all, our school has expectations for exchanges, even if they don't say what they are in the letters," Lily added.

"Ri— Lily?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it my eyes, or is Luke standing at the pub with a Muggle?"

Julian pointed in the direction of the pub, where Luke was indeed speaking with a Muggle. More like _listening_ to the Muggle boy's blubbers.

Luke saw the two of them and couldn't help but feel jealousy running through his veins. However, he couldn't lose his cool now. Not when a person needed help. Even if they couldn't speak coherently.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked as they came closer.

"Please! You have to help me!" The Muggle boy's face was deathly pale, but wet with tears. "My friends are in danger!"

"Calm down. " Lily leaned down to eye level with the boy. He sniffled, wiping his tears away with a handkerchief that she passed to him. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"M-my f-friends and I...last night...we w-went to explore the old Riddle House o-over t-th-there," he stuttered, pointing in the direction of a large manor on a hill. "It w-was ju-just a dare, y-you kn-know? M-make ourselves s-seem c-cooler. We w-were s-sup-posed to get s-something from the house and come r-right b-back out. B-b-but just when I g-grabbed a b-book, I looked b-behind m-me and th-they were gone. I thought they a-abandoned me, b-b-but then I heard them screaming. So I r-ran out, leaving th-the book behind in the foyer because I thought it was a ghost. " The boy managed to stop stuttering by now, but the fear never left his voice. "Later, I just thought that they were pranking me, that they would come back out laughing at me. Bu-_but they never came back!"_

He started bawling again, and Julian couldn't help but feel annoyed. Wasn't it the Muggles' own stupidity that got them in this position? Yet the look on Lily's face told him to be patient. He didn't know how she could do that: to remain_ abnormally_ calm even in a crisis.

"When you're feeling up to it, do you think you could lead us to the house?" Luke asked.

The boy nodded, though reluctant. It was clear that he didn't want to return to the house, but if it meant that they could save his friends, then he would. "This way," he sniffed, leading them towards the Riddle House.

As the quartet climbed the hill, Julian could feel the adrenaline coursing through his blood. Yet he couldn't help but think that if Sieg were here, he would lighten up this dire situation with humor. However, he was with his Auror mentor, Bosco, training somewhere in the outskirts of Rome.

Lucky bastard.

"W-well," the boy mumbled. "This is it. "

"Then what are we waiting for?" Luke pushed on the door, where it swung on creaking hinges. "Let's go in. "

Luke entered first, followed closely by Julian, then Lily and the Muggle. The door swung shut with a loud bang.

The Muggle boy held onto Lily's arm, and for once, both Luke _and_ Julian wanted to tell the git to find his own girl.

The foyer was almost exactly how the boy had described it. A book on the ground, tossed aside like they had been bored with it. On the spine were —

_—were those runes?_

Lily started sniffing the air. Something was off about this place. A broken vase lay on the floor, the house had an air of neglect, and around them...was the smell of _blood._

Yet...there was something else. Smoke, like someone had made a fire...the furniture looked as though it had been recently dusted...like someone had only just moved in.

_And that dark puddle in the carpet..._

The boy unlatched himself from Lily's arm. "I think we're too late. "

_"No,"_ Lily said calmly, with a rather odd undertone to her voice that even she couldn't identify. "Why don't you call them out?"

All three pairs of eyes homed in on her. "U-um, I don't think they'd hear us from here, let's go up the stairs "

_"Call them out now. "_ Gone was the calm, gentle voice of Lily Devine. Her voice was now calm, harsh, and stern. The voice of a leader sending her troops to battle.

"B-but," the Muggle boy stammered.

"Lily, just listen to him," Luke pleaded, but even his voice was met by deaf ears.

_"You heard me. Call out your friends, the ones waiting to ambush us the minute we reach the stairs,"_ she commanded.

As soon as those words left her mouth, the sound of clattering made their way down the stairs, followed closely by horrible cackling, and Julian wanted to puke from the sight.

Three skeletons, dressed in Muggle clothes with bits of flesh stuck to their bones, clambered down the stairs, each with a horrible grin on their bony faces. They gathered near the Muggle boy, who now shared the appearance of a zombie.

"Skeletons and a Zombie," Lily counted, looking at each of them with disgust. _"Lucian. "_

Julian's head snapped up at the sound of his younger brother's name. "_He's_ here?"

"And he lured us here," Luke said, flicking his wrist, causing his wand to slide into his hand. "He_ was_ a master at Necromancy, even when it came to the Inferi."

"You have that look in your eye," Lily added.

"Care to clarify?"

"The look that says you're going to take on Voldemort and live to tell the tale. "

"You know me too well," Luke said,"to figure that out without looking at me. "

"If you don't mind," Julian cut off,"I would like help to arrive right now. "

"On the count of three— "

_"INCENDIO!_" Fire erupted from their wands, trained on the victims of Necromancy. But the effect was not entirely what they expected.

At least the Inferi burned to a crisp, but the skeletons remained standing, grabbing knives from what remained of their pockets.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ The knives flew out of their skeletal hands. The undead Muggles leered at them, at least what they_ thought_ was a leer.

"The stupid door's locked," Luke cursed.

"Can't you— "

"What's worse, the door's gone and the walls just turned to stone. "

"What?" Lily turned around, only to see that Luke hadn't been joking. The walls had really _had_ turned to stone.

"Orders, Luke?" Julian asked.

"You might want to ask the centurion on that," Luke replied.

"Lily?"

"There are two options," she said slowly. "When you can't find a way to defeat your opponents, improvise. "

"What's the other option?"

_"Run. "_

Normally, Julian would have protested. But in the face of undead skeletons created by his twisted evil little brother...

_...maybe fleeing deeper into the house was better, he thought as he caught up to Lily and Luke._

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_"You can see the future?"_

_"I can see your death."_

_I kind of borrowed that line from Naruto._

_I wanted to update on July seventh, but the chapter wasn't finished by then so —ahhhh!_

_And I wanted this chapter to have at least ten thousand words, but then my beta reader said that this was long enough, even though I wanted to continue this chapter. But hey! I could always write a lot in the next chapter._

_While I was consulting my beta reader for verification, I experienced headaches due to the numerous questions asked and the explanations I had to give. And sometime during all of that, she threatened me with an umbrella for even more explanations as they guessed the plot. I couldn't stop laughing even when faced with an umbrella. And then she guessed what the dream and vision in this chapter meant._

_Poor Julian. For him to know how far his younger brother had fallen._

_So why did I have to make Lucian so defiant? What's a teenager's life without rebelling once in a while?_

_What was the significance of the coconuts that Lily kept? Maybe I'll have her use them as a weapon._

_Is Grandma Devine really that intimidating? Maybe I could do a chapter where she completely blows up at someone._

_Now what does the future hold for our three adventurers trapped in the Riddle House? Maybe Lucian would be glad to tell us in the next chapter. That is, if his undead servants haven't caught them by then._

_And I found a mistake in the last chapter and corrected it. I know some of you read the last chapter and Valor's signature was **Valor R. Devine. **But then I switched the R and Valor around so it would now read R. Valor Devine. Sorry for the confusion, but I had to revise it._

_Kudos to those of you who think you've figured out the dream and the vision—and to those of you who might have demanded it out of me. To those of you who don't know, well then, you'll have to ask someone who **does** now._

_So all of you must be frustrated with me and want answers to your questions and suspicions, or you just want to point out a mistake._

_Read and Review!_

_Wait, why is there an umbrella behind me?_


	8. Beyond Eternity

_"Clairvoyant, n.: A person, commonly a woman, who has the __power__ of seeing that which is invisible to her patron namely, that he is a blockhead. "_ _Ambrose Bierce_

* * *

Chapter 6

**Beyond the Eyes of Eternity**

The skeletons clattered down the hall, giving chase to their prey. Occasionally, one would trip and break a bone, but then the bones would mend themselves. When an order was given to them, they were relentless in following them.

"Damn, Lucian really did improve. "

Julian was now running alongside Lily and Luke, who were trying their best to not make any noise while trying to run and find a place to hide or escape.

"Is it just me," Lily whispered as they rounded the corner,"or did we suddenly become cowards in the face of skeletons?"

"Hey, they're_ undead _skeletons, and you were the one who suggested that we run," Luke countered.

"Yeah. Run— so we can find Lucian and beat the hell out of him. "

_"Lily!"_ Julian cried. "He's my brother, I can't do that! Do you even _know_ what my mum would do to me if Lucian came home all battered and he ratted me out?"

"_Now_ you consider him a brother," Luke noticed.

"Well— I— all right, I'll admit, sometimes I watch out for the bugger and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. "

"Anyway, I want to ask you something, Lily," Julian added.

"What do you need to say, because speak now or we get captured by piles of bones. "

"How did you know the zombie was leading us to an ambush?"

Luke glanced from Julian, then to Lily. That was a fair question. In fact, even Luke, a _qualified_ Auror, hadn't noticed anything suspicious about the zombie. He had thought they were helping a_ human_ boy.

"Blood," Lily said quietly. "There was blood in the air. So much, I almost didn't notice the zombie's scent. Didn't you see the blood on the carpet?"

"What about the skeletons?" Luke asked.

"I heard them," she whispered. "I heard them the minute we stepped foot inside. They were trying their best not to move around too much. And that book on the ground...didn't you see the title?"

"Runes?" Julian guessed.

"Now why would a book full of runes be in an abandoned Muggle manor?" she said. "And the title was_ The Foul Art of Necromancy_. " She held an arm out to stop them, pulling them into the supply closet before closing the door.

"What— " Luke's question was answered as clattering sounds passed the door. "They're seriously hell-bent on finding us, aren't they?"

"Oh, yes."

Lily opened her messenger bag to find the inner pouch. She reached a hand in and pulled out three small drawstring bags, each filled with six clear pills and six opaque ones.

"Chameleon Chews?" Luke asked, referring to the pills that would render them invisible.

"Each one only lasts half an hour," she said, passing the pouches around while fishing one pill out.

"I thought it was a_ whole_ hour," Julian noted, grabbing a pellet.

"I got them_ half_ off at a May Day fair. "

"...oh."

"To Rome," they toasted, swallowing the pills.

The effect was instantaneous. Their bodies shimmered while slowly blending in with their surroundings.

"Nicely done," Julian's voice praised.

The door opened and three sets of footsteps made their way out. Suddenly, a dusty old vase was knocked down from a stand and broke with a smash.

"Sorry," Lily muttered.

The trio continued to walk in silence until they reached the foyer once more.

"So what's the plan now?" Luke's voice asked.

"Find a way out of this house," Lily said. A coin floated in midair, turning it on its edge, before it flew towards the keyhole.

_However..._

The coin bounced away from the keyhole, soaring back into Lily's unseen hand.

"Well, damn," Luke hissed. "He really did think this through. "

_"Yes, I did. "_

They stared up at the stairwell, where, on the third landing, Lucian leaned on the railing, flanked by two skeletons, staring at the spot where they stood unseen.

"Crap, I keep forgetting about his eyes," Julian swore.

"Dear older brother, just how much did you forget about me?" Lucian mused.

His skeleton guards shifted impatiently on their feet, their teeth chattering for no reason whatsoever.

_...or so they thought..._

"Oh, all right. Have at them. "

The bony structures grinned horribly, starting to race down the steps.

Julian ran as far away from the stairs as possible, followed immediately by Lily and Luke.

"The plan now, centurion?" Luke inquired.

"Split up," Lily said. "I'm afraid that's all I can manage. "

* * *

"If that's really the best you can do, Lilione, I'm rather disappointed," Lucian drawled.

He looked to his left, where one of the skeletons had brought up the burnt zombie. "Then again, speaking as a Necromancer, I really can't rely on dead bodies for long. "

He leapt over the railing and sailed down to the ground floor. Lucian landed on his feet, a little_ too_ lightly.

Clouds of black smoke formed beside him, before rising higher until they reached the height of grown men. Then the smoke was replaced _by_ grown men.

"Now what have we caught?" Malfoy sneered, stepping out of the smoke.

"Two half-bloods and a blood traitor," Lucian said. "One of them happens to be my older brother. "

"So I heard. " Snape listened carefully for footfalls. "And which one is she?"

"The rogue," came Lucian's answer.

"And our orders are not to kill, just drag them back to the Dark Lord. " Greyback sniffed the air, as Lily had done before. He frowned, licking his lips. "Two half-bloods, you say?"

"Would you like to have your hearing corrected?"

Greyback scowled, trying not to lash out at the youngest Death Eater. "Their blood...it's practically overflowing with potential. Your brother could probably surpass even your ta— "

_"Don't you dare compare me to that half-breed!"_ Lucian shoved Wormtail out of the way to confront Greyback, his eyes practically blazing with a purple fire.

"My, my...hit a soft spot, haven't we?" Greyback taunted. "What, your mum takes more pride in a_ half-ling_ than her precious _pureblood_ son?"

"I doubt that your parents took pride in having a pathetic excuse of a_ werewolf_ for a son," Lucian snarled.

"Lucian!" Snape warned, but the damage had been done.

"Why you insolent, little— " The rest of Greyback's words were drowned by a snarl as he lunged for Lucian. The latter dodged his tackle while drawing out the serrated knife from before.

"Silver won't work, Nightshade," the werewolf sneered.

"I'm prepared to find out. What say you, flea-bitten mutt?"

This time, they charged at each other, Lucian's knife trying to stab Greyback's heart. The most he could land was a deep slash across Greyback's face when the werewolf knocked it out of the young Death Eater's hand, grabbing Lucian by the neck and holding him above the floor.

Lucian struggled, trying to pry the werewolf's grip, only for Greyback to tighten his hold on the boy.

"That's enough, both of you!" Lucius ordered, but his command was met with deaf ears.

"Not so tough now, are we, Nightshade?" Greyback sneered. Lucian met his gaze with absolute hatred. "Any last words?"

"I'll greet you in hell with open arms," Lucian spat.

Greyback prepared to snap the young Death Eater's neck when—

_"Oi, muttface!"_

Lucian's eyes traveled toward the hallway. His only thought: the person was either incredibly brave...

_...or incredibly stupid._

Greyback loosened his hold just a little before turning in the direction of the voice._ "Muttface?"_ he hissed.

A quarrel, the ammunition that supplied a crossbow, shot past Snape and Malfoy before it landed at the feet of Greyback.

The quarrel exploded, which loosened Greyback's hold on Lucian completely, allowing the latter to escape the explosion.

The wizards drew their wands out, Lucian grabbing his knife, which transformed_ into_ his wand.

"Show yourself!" Malfoy yelled at the smoke.

A snort was heard, one that Lucian could recognize anywhere. And if his hunch was correct...

The smoke cleared, revealing the culprit who had shot the bolt.

Wormtail choked on a gasp, trying to breathe when he saw the person, thinking that it had to be an illusion.

But for Snape, he _couldn't_ breathe.

Standing up against the wall was Lily Devine, crossbow in her arms as she reloaded her weapon a little _too_ casually, whistling a tune while she was at it. You would've thought she was simply bored and had shot them at random.

To Lucian, she was just a regular teenager with the guts to challenge five Death Eaters, even when one was in school. But to the others, she was Lily Potter, the woman who had given her life to help end the first war.

"Potter?" Malfoy spat.

Lily looked up from her weapon, a thouroughly annoyed look on her face. "Last I checked, I was your opponent. " She released the quarrel from the catch, which landed at their feet.

The ammo exploded again, and Lily took the advantage to run back into the hallway.

"You fools!" The Death Eaters looked up immediately, finding their master standing on the top landing. "After her!" Voldemort screamed. "Don't let that girl escape! After her, I say!"

* * *

_Julian, you owe me for this._

Lily ran into the kitchen, which was thankfully empty. She swallowed another Chameleon Chew, blending in with her surroundings once more.

She sat on the counter, her legs crossed together, as she pulled out one of the coconuts from earlier.

She didn't even notice a presence in the room until

"A _coconut_? You're in an abandoned house full of skeletons and Death Eaters and you choose now to have a _coconut?"_

"Nice to see you too, Lucian," Lily said mildly. "You know, for a Death Eater, you don't seem eager to wear the uniform. "

"Just because they're doing it doesn't mean I have to look obvious in the Muggle crowd. I prefer to blend in, not stand out. "

"You do a pretty good job at that, does Voldemort even agree with it?"

Lucian locked the door and sat in the kitchen chair. "How do you do that?"

"Care to clarify?"

"How can you remain so calm in the face of danger?"

"Probably the same way you can manage to retain that bit of spark in the face of death," she answered. "How's your neck?"

"Bruised." A roar was heard and for a moment, Lily thought that the Death Eaters were just outside.

_Then she realized that the sound had been Lucian's stomach._

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Starving," came the response.

"You're not allowed to eat on duty?"

"We're not even allowed _off_ duty."

"One of the drawbacks of being aligned with a Dark wizard. "

"Do you have another coconut?" Lucian asked.

Lily held the coconut, as if contemplating, when suddenly, she held a coconut in each hand.

"Knock yourself out," she said, tossing him a coconut.

Lucian caught it with ease, drawing out his knife and slicing the top of coconut off. The fragment of the shell landed on the ground, where it broke in two.

"And the toast," Lucian said. He and Lily held their shell cups up to each other. "To the centurion of Symphonia and eighth seat— "

"Seventh seat," Lily interjected.

"Already? And the seventh seat of the Symphonian Court," he finished, downing the sweet milk.

"You know, you bit off more than you could chew back there," Lily said, drinking from her own coconut.

"Gee, you think I don't already." Lucian wiped his mouth on his sleeve, now using his knife to carve out a chunk of coconut meat. "So why were you there? Why did you distract Greyback from me?"

Lily frowned, drinking from her coconut before replying,"Julian."

"Sorry?"

"Julian told me to keep an eye on you," she said. "He doesn't like to show his feelings directly, but he still cares about you. As an older brother. "

"Enough to send help in the form of his girlfriend," Lucian said.

Lily sipped her milk a little too quickly and started hacking. Once she had regained her lungs, she responded, "I'm not his girlfriend. "

"Yet. " Lucian drank from the coconut again. "I don't really know what you see in my idiot older brother. "

"I don't exactly know what you see in Voldemort," she retorted.

"Touché ." He carved out another chunk of coconut meat, this time in the shape of a heart, skewered onto the tip of his knife. "It's funny how love works, you know? All it takes is the cruel sting of Cupid's arrow. " Lucian ate the meat in one bite. "I don't suppose you have another coconut?"

To the normal eyes, where Lily sat was nothing but empty space. To Lucian's eyes, he could see her as if she were visible, opening her bag to find an unhairy coconut.

"Damn it, they gave me a copra."

This time, Lucian choked on the coconut meat, hacking for several minutes before managing to spit it out into the bin. "I'm sorry, they gave you_ a cobra_?"

"A _copra_," she corrected, turning the kernel around. "Did you know that copras can spontaneously combust?"

"I did not— " Lily grabbed her crossbow, aiming it at Lucian. His hands were up in the air. "Whoa, I said I didn't know and you just— "

The quarrel let loose at the same time the door opened, with Greyback about to step in.

"I thought I smelled —" He never did get to finish his words when the quarrel hit his chest. The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the opposite wall.

"—saved my life," Lucian finished, dumbstruck.

Lily turned her head to the left, inspecting the now limp body of Fenrir Greyback from the kitchen counter. "Well that didn't work at all. "

"Are you kidding? You just took down a grown werewolf!"

"I just used a silver bullet. "

Lucian snorted, much like his brother's except his were more taunting. "Please tell me you actually didn't fall _that_ hard, did you— what's on your cheek?" he asked abruptly.

"Huh?" Lily was about to tell him off when she remembered the flame symbol on the edge of her right cheek.

_How could you even forget about it for a second?_ a voice in her head reprimanded. Lily shook her head mentally, trying to dislodge that thought.

Lucian narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to see it properly in the dark. "That mark...it looks like a flame "

"Gee, you think I didn't know that," Lily mimicked.

"— but there's a rune that looks exactly like that," he continued, ignoring her remark. "And it's not in a good way. "

"Something like burn?"

"More like _'burn within'_," Lucian corrected. "And there's also a spell that can actually make your enemy spontaneously combust. Compared to that, a copra's nothing but a match. "

"That bad?"

"Bad doesn't even begin to explain that spell. The Dark Lord prefers to dish out a painless death, and it makes the first war look like a water balloon fight! If it had been used during the war, you and I wouldn't be here, because we wouldn't have existed!"

"So what can I call it?" Lily asked coolly. "Horrible, terrifying, demonic, infernal?"

"Infernal," he agreed. "So why's Voldemort after you all of a sudden?"

"You tell me, he's your boss. "

"And also, forgive me if it's sudden," she said abruptly.

"Wha— " A coconut shell was thrown at his head, and would have knocked him out cold if Lucian hadn't made a Shield Charm in time. And Lily chose that moment to escape from the kitchen, her foot colliding with Greyback's rib on her way out.

"A_ coconut_?" he yelled. "Of all the weapons you could have chosen, you chose a_ coconut_?"

"Hey, it's probably better than— " Lily had only made it in hallway when she collided with someone. To be specific—

_"Crap,"_ she swore.

"Language, Potter," Malfoy sneered.

* * *

Luke had tried every door in the house that he could find, hoping that Lucian had missed just one. But no, he hadn't missed a single trick.

_Now if only Anubis were here_, he thought. _Would he be able to—?_

He was brought out of his mind when a scream rang through the manor.

Luke brought out his wand, treading carefully. "Who's there?"

Another scream came as his answer, but this time, he heard it more clearly. It came from the second floor.

_"Luke! Julian!"_

"Lily?" The young Auror listened carefully, aware that he was close to losing his invisibility.

_"Where are they_?" Another voice screamed. "_Where are your friends?"_

"_I don't know!_" Lily's voice sobbed. _"I don't_!"

_"CRUCIO!"_

Lily's screams reverbrated throughout the house. Luke's blood heated with anger as he raced up the stairs.

"Lily! Hang on, I'm coming!"

_"Help me, Luke!"_

* * *

Julian threw Lucian's skeleton guards against the wall, crushing them until they were dust.

_Lucian, how could you have fallen so far?_ he thought. But he already knew the answer to that.

And it all started with Lucian's father, Julian's step-father.

There was once a time where, for once, Lucian had _looked up_ to Julian. Probably because of the numerous fights that their parents would get into, and then—

A high-pitched scream sounded, echoing through the house.

Julian drew his wand, walking up the stairs carefully. "Hello?"

_"Luke! Julian!"_

"Lily?" he cried in a panicked voice. "Lily, where are you?"

_"Where are they?"_ Another voice screamed. _"Where are your friends?"_

"_I don't know_!" Lily's voice sobbed. _"I don't!"_

_"CRUCIO!"_

She screamed again, but Julian was too filled with hatred to listen. Hatred for the bastard who dared to torture her.

Julian ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

_If she dies or loses her mind_, he thought as he reached the second floor,_ the one thing I'll regret is never telling her that I love her._

As he reached the door where the screams resonated from, another hand joined his on the doorknob. He looked up, pointing his wand at the person when he realized it was Luke, who had also trained his wand on him.

"Together?" Julian asked.

"Let's."

They kicked the door down, splinters flying into the room as they stormed in, wands brandished.

Even in the darkness, Luke and Julian could see Lily sitting in a chair with her back turned to them, sobbing in pain.

"Lily?"

The room was cloaked in complete darkness, hands restrained the two of them, and when the light returned, two Death Eaters had them in a chokehold while Lucian stood in the center of the room.

"Two birds in one stone!" he gloated, though surprised at the two Romans. "And Avery here thought it would never work!"

"Lucian," Luke spat. "Where's Lily?"

"Lily?" Lucian repeated, a confused look on his face before realization dawned on him and he smirked. "Oh, you mean—!" He cleared his voice for a moment before opening his mouth. _"Help me, Luke!"_ he screamed in a perfect imitation of Lily's voice.

"Julian..." Luke looked at Lucian's older brother. "Tell me you remembered he could do that. "

"I called him Silvertongue for a reason," Julian said.

"And this is why," Lucian finished with Julian's exact voice.

"I'll ask you again," Julian stated, struggling against the Death Eater that restrained him. _"Where's Lily?"_

"How should I know?" he countered. "Last I saw her, she murdered my other skeletons and jinxed Malfoy in the face. Did you know that your girlfriend threw a coconut at my head?" Lucian added.

"Can't say that you didn't deserve it," Julian argued. "And she's not my girlfriend— "

"I know, I know," Lucian said impatiently._ "'She's a girl and she's my friend, but she's not my girlfriend',"_ he concluded in his older brother's voice, shaking his head. "Really, I don't know what she sees in an idiot like you. "

The doors flew open and a dark figure stormed in.

"Did you get her?"

"Even better," Lucian replied. "Her friends. And if she hasn't changed a bit, she'll come to their rescue, professor."

_"Professor?"_ Julian snorted in disgust. "A Death Eater for a teacher, Lucian?"

"That is irrelevant at the moment, Julian. " Lucian turned around to face the prisoners. "Now, how much do the two of you enjoy being the bait?"

* * *

Malfoy crashed against the wall, blood running down his forehead.

"Can't say I'm sorry, because that would be a lie," Lily said, dusting off her sleeves. "Then again, at least you put up more of a fight than the other two," she added as she passed the limp, unconscious bodies of Crabbe and Goyle covered in skeletal remains.

She found herself back in the foyer, standing on the puddle of blood that had belonged to one of the Muggles murdered for Lucian's Necromancy experiments.

Lily gingerly picked the book off the ground, keeping a hand on the chapter that it had opened to.

Interestingly, it had opened up on the first page of Chapter 10: Creating Skeletons

Lily snapped it shut, dust flying into the air as she did.

_"Lily. "_

She turned around suddenly, searching for the source of the voice.

_But no one was behind her._

No one in the hall, no one on the stairs.

_"In here, Lily Lion. "_

Lily looked around wildly for Luke, or even her uncle. However, whoever called her by her nickname, it couldn't have been either of them because:

1. Uncle Valor wasn't here.

2. Whoever had said her nickname said it with venom.

As she headed back into the hall with Lucian's book, something in her snapped.

Her right cheek started to burn, starting from her flame mark. The sensation began to creep towards her right ear.

_Not here, not now!_ Lily thought angrily.

"There she is!" Two Death Eaters blocked the hallway.

Lily shook her head in frustration, trying to throw off the pain as she pulled out the second of the two wands she had arrived with.

It was a silver wand, with a phoenix feather as the core, and a handle shaped like a rapier's.

_"Incendio!"_ A ring of fire surrounded her and spread to the edges of the carpet, keeping the enemy at bay.

"Hey, doesn't that look like Nightshade's wand?" One of the Death Eaters in front of her said.

"Yeah, but Nightshade has his with him right now," his partner argued. "Now, Potter, come with us quietly or we do so by force. Although that would likely kill me in the process. "

"And why's that?" Lily challenged. "Because you know you'll be dead before you could put a hand on me?"

"Close," he sneered. "Snape made me vow that not a scratch would land on you. "

"Idiot!" The one next to him snarled.

"The Unbreakable Vow?" Lily momentarily lowered her wand. "Why would a Death Eater make a bargain for my life?"

"I have no idea, but I— what the hell are you doing?" he screamed.

Lily held up the silver wand, where it shifted its appearance into the serrated knife that Lucian had wielded. "Not a scratch on me, huh?"

She held the edge of her blade on her palm.

"Don't you dare!" The Death Eater yelled, pale and sweating now.

Lily met his eyes for a moment, fear evident in his eyes.

_"A centurion never shows weakness to their enemy. Prove to me that I was right in choosing you."_

She heard the voice of her headmistress in her ear, whispering everything that she had been taught.

Lily slashed a deep cut into her palm. She held it up for the world to see. "I'm bleeding, aren't I?"

The Death Eater brandished his wand, only to fall dead on the spot.

With the death of his colleague, the other charged into the fire.

_"Denizens of the wizarding world use magic as a ranged combat while denizens of the Muggle world use close combat. To catch an enemy wizard off guard, go in for close. "_

_"Imperio!"_ The Death Eater roared.

Lily ran at him with her knife in her left hand, throwing off the effects of the curse.

She shoved the knife through the opponent's heart, watching with satisfaction as his skin disintegrated, leaving him a pile of bones on the floor.

_"There is a difference that separates imperial gold and imperial silver. The latter is more stable, great endurance. Of course, it depends on the magic imbued into the metal. "_

"Oi!" Another pair of feet made their way into the hallway. "Somebody get her! She's right there!_ INCENDIO!"_

Flames surrounded Lily once more, but this time, not as a barrier, but to burn her.

However, the flames hardly effected her. Rather, they licked at her flesh and it only felt like a tickle.

"You call those flames?" Lily sneered at the Death Eater left in the hall.

"Why aren't you— "

She muttered a spell under her breath.

The wizard burst into flames, screaming as his own temperature set him on fire.

"Don't make me laugh. "

* * *

Lucian sniffed the air, catching the scent of —_was that chicken? Or steak without seasoning_?

He sighed angrily. "All right, which idiot decided to prepare supper?"

The remaining Death Eaters and the prisoners, now bound in ropes, hanging from the ceiling, sniffed the air too, confusion apparent in their faces.

"I believe we just sent Harris down there," Avery piped in.

"I'll deal with it." Lucian grabbed his silver wand, shifting into a carving knife as he stormed out.

"I don't trust you. Snape, accompany him," Avery said.

"What? I just said that I'd deal with it!"

"Just like how you dealt with Greyback?" he sneered.

"Greyback is in the kitchen with a silver bullet in his skin. Doesn't that prove that he's incapable of even capturing a seventeen-year old witch?" Lucian countered.

Avery opened his mouth to tell off Lucian—

"AAARRGGGHH!"

The scream shook the floor, causing some to lose their balance. But it wasn't a female voice that screamed. Instead, a grown man's.

"And there's another one!" Lucian gestured to the door in triumph. "So either Harris is trying to capture her, or he's completely incapable of even preparing dinner for us! In fact, I bid him good luck if he ever wants to start a family!"

"Just go already!" Avery bellowed. "If Harris can't even capture her, then bring backup!"

Lucian smirked, mock saluting Avery as he headed out with Snape.

"I can't stand that boy," Avery grumbled. "And you! How can you even live with him?" he yelled at Julian.

"Easy," he said. "I don't. "

* * *

_12 Grimmauld Place, 8:38 PM_

"Harry!"

Harry turned on the spot, looking at Sirius questioningly, who in turn was staring at an old photo with Lupin, the former trying not to snicker.

"Thought you'd like to see this," Sirius said.

Harry took the photo from his hands. His parents sat at a table in an open air café . His father offered Lily an orange, but he had not expected his mother's reaction.

Lily took the orange and threw it at James, who fell out of his seat in surprise and from the impact of the orange.

"Did you know that your mother hated oranges?" Sirius added.

"Yeah, I noticed," Harry said.

"No, she didn't hate them," Lupin noted. "More like she was _allergic_ to them. "

"Same difference."

"She was allergic to oranges?" Harry asked incredulously.

"She used to pick out every bit of oranges in her desserts and fruit, James always thought she was picky," Lupin explained. "Until he 'accidently' put oranges in her salad at lunch and sent her to the hospital wing. Do you remember her friend two years above us, Sirius? Rozalia?"

"The best memory I have of the woman was her screaming at us in —was it Russian?— and her calming down enough to actually translate to us what she had said. "

* * *

Lucian landed on the ground floor with ease. "All right, Harris, you'd better not...have— "

The sight that greeted him was not what he was ever prepared for.

Where Harris had stood, a man being roasted alive screamed in pain, writhing on the floor. Screaming for someone to kill him already.

Lucian raised his wand, shaking as he uttered a spell.

_"Aguamenti!"_

Water shot out of his wand, extinguishing the flames that had burned him alive.

The Death Eater known as Harris was barely even recognizable. His skin and hair had completely burned off, leaving nothing but roasted flesh clinging to his bones. Lucian grimaced as he caught sight of third degree burns rapidly reaching into fourth.

Harris continued thrashing on the floor, yelling in pain but quieter now.

"Pull yourself together, Harris," Lucian urged, rolling him onto his back, only for Harris to scream again. "Sorry," he added.

"N-N-Nightshade..."

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Th-the girl— flames— _exuro intus_— burning— "

"Whoa, hold it, did you just say_ 'exuro intus'_?" Lucian asked in horror.

"Just kill me already!" he yelled. "It's hell of a better choice than having to live like this "

"You're lucky you even _lived_ at all, Harris! Hardly anyone lives to tell of this curse!"

Lucian shivered violently as he fiddled with his coat pocket, fumbling before managing to pull out the bottle of dittany he always kept with him.

_Exuro intus_..._burn within_...the one spell worse than_ Avada Kedavra_.

"Well, don't I feel lucky," Harris sneered painfully, wincing as drops of dittany fell on him.

"At least it didn't reach the fourth degree. But on the other hand, it actually burned off your Dark Mark. "

* * *

Lily ran up the stairs, her senses sharper than ever as she caught the scent of her friends on the second floor.

Just as she arrived on the second floor landing

"Lily?" She turned around at the mention of her name.

She dragged her heel against the floor, slowing herself down. Her eyes narrowed at the new opponent.

"I just want to talk— "

"You lost that right when you swore your allegience to Voldemort," Lily spoke in a different voice. _"Stupefy!"_

Her opponent ran behind an old statue, the Stunning Spell missing him by mere inches. Just as he fished his wand out of his robes

_"Erhem._ "

He spun around, his wand at the ready when it flew out of his hand.

Lily swung her wand arm outward, her silver wand slowly shifting shape until taking the form of an slender silver sword.

She brought the tip of the blade to his neck, but never drawing blood.

"A sword? Of all the spells you could have cast, you chose to disarm me with _that_?"

A strange glint appeared in Lily's eyes. "No."

The sword sang out, slicing Snape's palm and his left forearm before she sent him flying back from the impact of the pommel hitting his skull.

"I chose to injure you with it," she finished, the sword slowly shrinking back to the wand.

"So I noticed," he snarled. "You're not even going to finish me off?"

"You and I both know that Voldemort will finish you off, Severus," Lily said oddly. "But if you insist..." The silver wand took the form of a crossbow.

"You really have changed, haven't you, Lily?"

Something in her, when Snape had said her name, began to rise. She put a hand to her right ear, as if hearing him say her name made her deaf.

But then there was the mark.

The flame mark from the barrage years ago began to glow faintly with a red light.

When the light faded, she removed her hand from her ear, turning to face Snape.

But it was a different sight that greeted him.

Nearly everything about her was the same, from the sharp angles to the predator eyes.

But it was the eyes that startled him.

Not the green eyes that he could identify anywhere, the same eyes that his least favorite student bore, but—

A pair of bright indigo eyes met his gaze in the darkness.

However, the next eight words that left her mouth rendered him speechless.

_"How the __**hell**__ do you know my name?"_

_"HHEELLLPPP!"_

The magical denizens looked up from the gaze they held earlier as the voice screamed through the house.

"Julian?"

Lily ran past Snape to find her friends on this floor as he struggled to stand.

_"'So she may have nearly the exact appearance, but it does not mean she has risen from the grave. Remember that she is nothin— '"_

Never had he hated Dumbledore's words more than now.

* * *

Lily ran towards the door where the screams had resonated.

Well, if a door was supposed to be on the ground, littering the ground with splinters.

She never heard it as she ran through. She never heard the footfalls behind her as she rushed in. Not even the spell cast as she searched wildly for her friends.

_"Stupefy!"_

* * *

The ballroom of the Riddle House was once quite grand. A marble dance floor, a second floor and a stairwell, and an old piano.

Now it remained collecting dust from the years of neglect. Dark, musty, and dead.

Nagini slithered up the stairs until her master allowed her to climb his arm.

"Can't I just take a bite of the girl?" Greyback complained.

"No," Voldemort hissed sharply.

Nagini lifted her head to meet the eyes of their prisoners.

The Romans hung from the ceilings upside down, bound by ropes, at eye level with Voldemort. Julian glared at Lucian, who turned away from his brother's disapproving gaze; Luke struggled to reach for his pocket, where his knife waited; but Lily held the gaze of the snake.

"I believe you already know who I am," Voldemort said.

"Course we do," Lily replied. "You're Voldemort. "

Every Death Eater gathered in the ballroom hissed, but Lucian raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You're very brave," he noted. "Worthy of the alias _Valor Rossini_. That is at least one of your names, no?"

Lily cast a glance at Lucian, who seemed to find the dusty grand piano fascinating.

"Yes," she said grudgingly. "I'm afraid it is. "

Julian sneezed rather loudly, managing to blow some dust off of a pillar.

The doors to the ballroom opened, with two skeletons rushing in and—

_—cleaning the ballroom?_

Julian stared at Lucian questioningly.

"What?" he asked. "If you're to die, you won't exactly be remembered if you die suffocating. "

"Gee, what would I do without my Death Eater of a brother?" Julian said sarcastically.

"Oh, you'd be dead already," Lucian replied mockingly.

"Ah, yes, where were our manners?" Voldemort raised a pale hand, gesturing to his followers. "How rude it was of us to not prepare this room for your arrival. "

"Actually, we didn't give you a warning at all," Luke said.

The skeletons clattered away, carrying brooms, rags, and other cleaning materials as they went out.

Lucian swiped a finger against the railing, not a speck of dust upon his skin. "I'll admit, they did better than the Muggle skeletons."

"Silence, Nightshade. "

Nagini swayed her head but stopped when she saw Lily's right cheek.

Fear made its way into Lily as the snake held her gaze on the faint mark.

_Look away,_ she thought, _don't look at it. Don't draw attention._

"So you're the girl who took on seven of my Death Eaters. Quite admirable, at a young age. "

"I only have one thing to say," Lily said. "If they really were your finest followers, I'm rather disappointed in you. "

An outrage ensued from the Death Eaters gathered, yet if their leader had any fury, he chose not to show it.

"Your boldness is to be commended," Voldemort said, stroking the head of his snake familiar. "I knew such boldness in several of my best followers— " His eyes glanced towards Lucian. "Even in my enemies. Including an...acquaintance from years ago. "

"You killed him?" Luke asked, disgust apparent in his voice.

_"Her,"_ he corrected. "A pity. Such talent, a power that would have ensured my hold on the wizarding world. But she threw it all away, and for what, you may ask?"

Lily narrowed her eyes, now resembling a wolf hunting its prey.

_"Love_," he hissed. "Can you imagine? A witch with so much she could accomplish, all of her years ahead of her, abandoning everything for such weakness. "

"You're wrong. "

Julian and Luke turned in the direction of where Lily dangled inverted.

"What did you say?" Voldemort questioned. Nagini slithered restlessly, her tongue flicking out.

"I beg to differ on that topic," she said simply.

"Your boldness..you remind me so much of _that woman_." Nagini hissed angrily as Voldemort spat those words at her."How is it that I haven't killed you for such defiance?"

Lily met his gaze with the sharp eyes that every Devine inherited, no matter what.

"Because love is something worth fighting for. "

Voldemort silently absorbed her words. "More than hate?"

"Even more than you."

Julian held his breath, Luke silently prayed that she wouldn't meet her demise now, and Lucian looked away, biting his lip.

She had made her own grave now.

Voldemort remained stationary for quite some time, raw fury upon his face.

_"Kill."_

Just that one word was enough to strike fear into the room.

Nagini unwound herself from her master's arm, keeping eye contact with the upstart. She bared her fangs and lashed out.

Lily remained unusually calm, as if being fed to snakes was normal for her. As if she had been prepared to die.

Julian wanted to scream at her. _How could she say that so calmly? Why wasn't she doing something to save herself?_

Nagini sunk her fangs—

_—into a bundle of ropes where her prey was supposed to be._

_"Where is she? Where did that girl go?"_

Luke grinned deviously, managing to get his eyes to find the floor.

The Death Eaters and their leader leaned over the railing for a better look. Only Lucian vaulted himself over to reach the ground.

A little five year old stood up, her clothes too large for her. Red hair gathered in a tight bun, sharp facial features, and almond green eyes. For a child, she resembled a wolf cub learning to survive on its own.

"What the —?"

"How?"

"Wasn't there a teenager ?"

"Eternal Lily," Lucian said. "I haven't seen you do that since last December. "

The child glowered. Slowly, her body changed. She grew taller as her bones developed more. Every bit of puppy fat left her body as her cheekbones became high arched. Her sight broadened, nose sharper, and hearing perfected.

In the child's place was what could have been her older version.

Because it was.

_The child had been the younger form of Lily Devine._

"I've always wanted to fight you alone," he remarked.

"What makes you think she'll be alone?" Julian yelled.

Lucian opened his mouth—

_—at the same time Luke ripped through his bonds._

The latter hurled his knife at Julian, where it easily cut through the ropes.

"Thanks, Luke!" he called, catching the knife.

Lucian fished into his pocket—

"Don't you dare!" Lily screamed.

_—with a handful of glittering blue powder coming out._

He threw the powder directly at Lily, eventually engulfing the entire room.

Nearly the whole of the occupants in the ballroom coughed violently, trying to wave the smoke away.

"Damn it, Nightshade, are you trying to kill us?" Greyback choked.

The remainder of the powder faded, and when Lily opened her eyes—

_—the ballroom looked as though it had been redesigned._

It had been restored to its former glory. The marble floor gleamed underneath their feet, reflecting the ceiling and the glass chandelier above. It was more lively than it had been earlier.

All around them, guests waltzed to the music the orchestra played. A number of tables had been set for those who wished to eat. They chatted, flirted, and continued to dance as though they had not at all been perturbed by their sudden appearance.

Julian had a double take. "Lily? What are you wearing?"

"Wha— " Lily looked down and saw that a beautiful imperial blue dress had taken the place of her clothes. She didn't know why she was wearing it. She_ hated_ dresses. Lily never wore a dress since she was seven.

"Now isn't this much better than that dingy old house?"

Lily turned in the direction of Lucian's voice. A young man sat in an empty chair, holding a mirror up so that it pretty much covered his head.

"I figured blue would bring out the color of your eyes right now," Lucian said, turning the mirror around to show Lily's reflection. A bright pair of blue eyes stared back at her in the mirror. "I swear, you could be the spitting image of your uncle right now. "

Lucian set down the mirror—

_—and now he shared the same appearance as Julian._

"Lucian, you complete git!" Julian screamed. Yet Lucian/Julian seemed to not have heard his brother.

"Dream Powder," Luke muttered, looking around them. "We're in Lily's thoughts. "

"Don't tell me— "

"Unfortunately, neither of them can even see or hear us. "

Julian scowled, turning back to see Lily and Lucian.

"You could stay here, you know," Lucian said, lifting a champagne glass from a waiter's tray. "Forever. I mean, what person wouldn't?"

"I wouldn't," Lily said immediately.

Lucian/Julian set the glass back down. "It'd be such a waste, don't you think? You could have anything you want, go anywhere, even leave the Latin Quarter and never return! But you still stay there. "

Lily swallowed. "I can't just do that easily. Everyone needs me. "

"Everyone _needs_ you," he repeated. "But do they _want_ you?"

Lily hesitated. She couldn't find an answer to that.

What had her life been about so far? Undergoing Auror training, but she had wanted that, didn't she? Or was it simply because her teachers suggested that she join?

"And what about your parents?"

An image of two set of feet walking through a door passed through Lily's mind.

"Shut up," she whispered.

This time, Lucian knew he had hit a weak spot.

"When was the last time you ever saw your parents? No, even _heard_ their names?"

_"Stop it!"_ Julian screamed. He hated it. Julian hated how his brother could twist around anyone's words with a simple keyword. How Lucian could seed doubt into a person's heart by altering their thoughts. But the fact that he was tainting Lily's only thoughts of her parents and herself made it even worse.

"That's not true! They —"

"Siding with your uncle," Lucian chided. "How do you know your uncle didn't lie to you all these years? That your parents didn't drop you on his doorstep the moment you were born? _That they're even alive right now, thinking about the daughter they left behind?"_

By now, Lucian had gone too far. Lily was trembling, her eyes wide and blank, a glazed look on her face.

"I don't," she said numbly.

"You're right. " Lucian pulled out a pinch of Dream Powder and cast it into the space between them. "Maybe this will ease your mind."

The small cloud of blue smoke began to show an image.

"What is it?"

"Your future," Lucian said. "What you could have, or will have, if you'd just let go. "

Lily saw herself in the smoke sitting at a café table, laughing, with a person whose features couldn't be identified.

The image changed. She was in a beautiful wedding dress, walking towards the alter with the train trailing behind her, her veil and fishtail braid nearly just as long but it was clear she was smiling under the veil. Again, the man recieving her remained unidentified but it was obviously somebody she loved.

The image changed even more. Lily was in a kitchen when a blond haired boy with her exact eye shape ran up to her.

"It's all yours," Lucian taunted in her ear in reality. "But only if you _let go_. "

"I've waited for so long..." Lily murmured.

"I know. "

"I...think I can wait a little longer. _Deluvium_!"

The refined ballroom faded around them, eventually replaced by the musty counterpart as Lily flooded the room.

_"Tempesta!"_ Lucian yelled. The water began to churn and boil, a whirlpool eventually taking form.

"Not so fast!" Julian shot his hand out. A large hand rose out of the water, copying his movements and capturing Lucian in its watery hold. He made a fist and brought it down. The hand crashed against the floor, creating white foam in the process.

The water washed away, leaving behind four wet teens and an unconscious Lucian on the floor.

The Death Eaters above seemed to regain their sense and rushed down to finish off his work.

Lily chucked an object at the first Death Eater who reached the ground floor. Unfortunately, that had been Wormtail.

Wormtail was sent flying towards the wall, which shattered into splinters on impact.

_"Crucio!"_

Lily ran out of the way, her back hitting the wall as she felt for her wand. But her hand found something else. A thin vertical groove in the wall...a servants' entrance! Surely Lucian couldn't have known about this. He'd only be worried about doors he could see.

Quietly, she pulled out a Galleon and pressed it against the groove.

"Can you wait for a few minutes, Janus?" Lily whispered.

The coin slipped into the groove, considering that the groove was smaller, but it meant that Lucian had missed it.

She found her regular wand, her silver tucked away in the pouch.

_"Petrificus Totalus!"_ she yelled.

Greyback froze, rigid as a board as he fell on the wet floor. Lily ran across the room to where Julian and Luke fought.

"If I'd known," Luke said, sending Malfoy flying, "I would have walked away from that zombie. "

"Just shut up and listen," Lily said, blocking a curse. "I found a way out. "

"Keep going," Julian whispered.

"Lucian missed a door while he was setting up this trap. "

"Do go on. "

"That wall over there," she hissed. "There's a servants' door. "

"So the plan?" Luke asked.

"We're going to run straight for the door, because I just activated it. "

"That was straightforward," he commented. "But it's better than spending tea time with these goons. "

The trio ran across the ballroom, sending spells behind them as the Death Eaters remaining chased them.

_"Janus!"_

"Will do!" The servants' door opened, revealing the familiar scene of the Latin Quarter.

"Don't let them escape!"

_"Cru— "_

_"Stupefy!"_ Lily managed to knock down the gorilla-like Death Eaters from before as she stepped through the door.

The door swung shut, light pouring out from the crack before becoming an ordinary door again.

* * *

_10:59 PM, Latin Quarter_

Night had entered the Latin Quarter, lulling its residents to sleep.

Except for a few.

"Remind me never to trust blubbering Muggles who'll drag me to some abandoned house," Luke yawned.

"Your fault for going to the pub," Julian accused. "And yawning is actually con-tagious," he yawned.

"You guys go on," Lily mumbled, reaching Fortuna's Court. "I'm going to sleep. "

"That's if Grandma Devine will let you," Luke added.

A few minutes after Lily had left them, they heard yelling from Fortuna's Court.

"You just _had_ to jinx it, Luke," Julian said.

* * *

The Death Eaters sat around the table in the drawing room. Voldemort had seated himself at the head of the table, silent and unusually calm. But his followers knew that he would vent his anger soon.

"M-my Lord," Greyback interrupted.

"If your suggestion has anything to do with Nightshade, the answer is no," Voldemort hissed. "Not after you allowed yourself to be shot by a silver bullet. "

Greyback fumed in his seat while glowering at Lucian.

"Although the plan had somewhat failed," he said, "nevertheless, you did manage to lure the girl here, along with some— unexpected guests, Nightshade. "

"Harris. " The Death Eater Harris raised his head, though shaking in fear. "How did you acquire those wounds?"

"Th-the girl, m-my Lord," he stammered.

"_Exuro intus_, I presume?"

Harris flinched, raising his seared arms in defense.

"I see. And Wormtail, what was the object that the girl used against you?"

Wormtail cringed, shaking from head to toe.

"Well? You know I do not like to be kept waiting. "

Wormtail set a round object on the table, which began to roll around until Lucian caught it.

"A _coconut_," he said, turning it around.

"Of all the spells that could have taken you out," Voldemort said coldly, "she chose to make a mockery of us. "

The Death Eaters shifted in their seats.

"Um, my Lord," Avery said. "She doesn't have anything to do with—? "

"I forbid you to speak of that woman. " Voldemort scratched the table. "Anyone else who mentions _that woman_ will have their head on a platter."

The older Death Eaters seemed to become uncomfortable in their seats.

"Dismissed...except for you, Wormtail. "

The rest of his followers hurried out of the room.

Lucian held the coconut in his hand, rage filling him as he thought back to the skirmish earlier.

_How could I have been defeated by him? That half-breed—_

Lucian chucked the coconut at the wall in anger.

To his surprise, the fruit exploded, leaving behind a hole in the wall.

_'Did you know that copras can spontaneously combust?'_

* * *

_11:03 PM, Latin Quarter_

Lily opened the door and shut it just as quietly. She looked around the corners to see if her grandmother was around.

Nope. The coast was clear.

She tiptoed up the stairs and over to her door

_"LILIONE DEVINE!"_

Crap. Her full first name.

Lily turned around, where Grandma Devine stood in her nightgown.

"Gran —"

_"Where were you? You were supposed to be home before dark and you only just arrived now? Do you have any idea how worried your uncle and I were when you didn't show up for dinner? I swear, you remind me so much of your father— !"_

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not my dad," Lily replied hotly.

"That even your personality is exactly like his!" Grandma Devine shouted. "He's calm and deadpan and that's exactly what he said to your grandfather!"

_"Mother!"_ The door to her uncle's room opened and Valor stepped out, sleepy-eyed and irritated. "I'm sure Lilione has a perfectly good reason for being late. That is if you'd let her. "

Grandma Devine fumed for a moment before she calmed down. "So what's your excuse? You have a minute, go."

"Delivering letters, headaches, following a Muggle to a haunted house, learning that said boy was a zombie and had skeleton friends, trapped, Death Eaters attacked us, Voldemort, and escaped through a servants' door," Lily said in a rush.

"You did that in twenty-eight seconds," Valor noted. "And did I hear you say Voldemort?"

"Yes. "

The two older adults stood silently, absorbing this new information.

"Go to bed, then," Valor decided.

"O-kay?"

As he watched his brother's daughter shut her room door behind her, he turned back to Grandma Devine. "Mother, how long do you intend on keeping her in the dark?"

"For as long as I live," she replied. "I never intended for her to know the truth about her parents— "

"My brother and your daughter-in-law have_ names_, you know," he cut in.

"You're not doing justice by not saying their names, too. How do you think I felt whenever she asked about her parents? I couldn't look at her in the eye and lie to her face! She was young!"

"And she's seventeen, now," Valor said. "She's not a little girl anymore!"

"And she's certainly not L— " Grandma Devine choked, regaining her breath as she said, "If I told her, she would never believe me. "

"Unless you drank Veritaserum. "

"Get to bed, Valor. "

As they headed back to their rooms, what they had missed was the fact that their conversation had been eavesdropped upon.

Behind the door to Lily's room, she had sat near the door with her ear pressed against it.

Anubis looked at her with a disapproving gaze.

"Sorry, Anubis," she mumbled, walking back towards her bed. "But if they think they can keep me in the dark forever, they are _so_ wrong. "

Anubis snorted, chewing on an adorable lion plush in his bed.

"Hey." Lily grabbed the lion plushie from her jackal. "My lion doll. Find your own. "

Anubis whimpered, covering his eyes with his paws.

"Night, Anu. " The last thing she could remember was Anubis climbing up onto her bed.

* * *

_The shadow room again. It had been a while._

_The little red haired, indigo-eyed girl was now six, quickly approaching seven._

_Another candle had been lit and placed onto a holder. The girl held it by the handle and moved it in the direction of the door._

_A plate of food was set on the floor. A pitcher of water, bread, and cheese. Meager, but filling._

_The girl broke the bread in half and offered it to the jackal. He ate it gratefully, leaving some crumbs behind._

_As the canine drank from the pitcher, the girl held the holder above her._

_Wait, what was dangling from the ceiling?_

_There was a hook, and from it a ring of keys!_

_But how to get it?_

_Then she saw the crates around her._

_However, there was a problem._

_The candle had melted down_.

* * *

_August 22, 4:11 AM_

Sieg woke up yawning, blinking as he adjusted to the bit of light peeking in through the window.

_The dreams have gotten better_, he thought.

Glancing at his alarm clock, he shrugged.

_A few more hours of sleep won't hurt._

* * *

_12:09 PM_

Lily dressed into her school uniform. Knee-length navy skirt, stockings, sneakers, boucle jacket, and blue tunic with sleeves that reached her elbow. Of course, the tunic was embroidered on the left chest with the school crest.

Remembering her position, she hurriedly put on a silver badge with the letter C engraved onto the shield.

"Right, do I have everything?" she asked herself.

Anubis trotted over with a toiletry bag in his mouth.

"Thanks, Anubis. " She opened her trunk and placed the bag next to her copy of _Advanced Transfiguration._

"I think that's it. Wait— yes, I have my wands. "

Lily marched out her door with the trunk and headed down the stairs.

"Uncle Valor! I'm ready to go!"

"Eesh, can you wait, I have something to give you. "

Valor came out of the kitchen with a wooden box in his hands, neatly ribboned.

"What is it?" she asked, setting her trunk down as she came over.

"Something that belongs to you now. " He pressed it into her hands. "Well, go on, open it. "

Lily pulled the ribbon loose and opened the lid.

_If it's what I think it is_— Her hunch was correct.

Inside were her uncle's blue tinted glasses.

"Try it on. "

She held the glasses, but then the shape changed into a set of navy oval-framed glasses.

"It changes its shape to the holder's liking," Valor explained as she put the glasses on.

Lily remembered the first time she found these glasses as a child, how her grandmother found her wearing them, how Lily offered the glasses to her. But her answer was something she had never understood.

_"'They weren't made for my eyes, dear. '"_

"How long have these been in our family?" she asked.

"Since the empire," he responded.

"And if anyone but a Devine tried to wear them— "

"They wouldn't be able to see what we do," Valor said, tapping the frame of the glasses. "They were made for an Eternal's eyes only. "

"I see..." Lily looked at the photo of her at the port taking her to school. "Did my dad— "

"Lilione!" Her grandmother's voice yelled. "You're going to be late! You were supposed to be at the port right now!"

"All right! Bye!"

As soon as she Disapparated, Valor looked at his mother disapprovingly. "Are you ever going to let her know?"

"You heard me last week, I don't intend on ever letting her know about_ that_."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Sorry I haven't updated in so long, it's just that I've had horrible cases of writer's block and a cold and a puppy biting my hand. Yes I was bitten by a puppy, she happened to be four years old, and she left me a mark to remember it by. (I was actually bleeding.) And then there was faulty wifi connections today so I couldn't update as early as I wanted to. And then there were distractons that postponed writing._

_Oh yeah, in case some of you haven't noticed, I changed part of chapter one. If you can't find a change, you don't have to worry._

_It's true, copras can actually spontaneously combust._

_So do the earlier chapters about the Devine family gift make sense now? Not the glasses, but their ability. What Lily did in the Riddle House._

_As explained earlier, exuro intus means burn within. More dangerous than Avada Kedavra._

_Why did I include a part about Harry's mum hating oranges into the chapter? Figure it out._

_Ah, nothing like getting things half off at a sale. But in this case, half off not only means half the price, but half the quality._

_How many of you were fooled when Lucian had used his voice to mimick Lily's? Did you really think she'd get captured that easily?_

_Were you confused about why Lucian had a chat with Lily without attacking her? Just call it a temporary truce._

_Congrats to those of you who can figure out the meaning behind Grandma Devine's words. Those of you who don't, just sit tight and let the chapters come rolling in. _


	9. Doors of Destiny

**"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. "**  
**—Flora Whittemore**

* * *

**Chapter 7**  
**Doors of Destiny**

* * *

It had been two hours since the ship taking them to their school left the port.

The ship, the _Legion_, sailed smoothly over the sea, occasionally passing several islands inhabited by wizards and Muggles.

Leaning over the railing, Lily stared at the water, switching from her eyes to her glasses. Occasionally, she would see something interesting with them on, such as a ghost of an old sea captain waving at them from the depths.

"Cover your ears," the captain's voice rang across the ship. Several students—new ones, mostly—blinked in confusion at these words. Until the voice said,"We are now approaching the land of the Sirens."

At this, alarm spread among the new students, who promptly covered their ears. However, most of the older students laughed it off, having had experience with the captain's jokes.

"Why aren't you covering your ears?" A new student yelled to Julian.

Deciding to go along with the captain's annual joke, Julian leaned to the side and cupped his hands around his ears as if trying to hear the boy's words.

"Why aren't you covering your ears?" the boy yelled again, louder.

Feigning a look of realization, Julian brought out a quill and wrote letters in the air. Eventually, those letters hovered in the air, showing the boy his answer.

_I'm deaf!_

"Must be nice," the boy muttered as Sieg snickered at his friend's actions. A girl from afar watched him with desire in her eyes.

The Legion sailed across the "Sirens'" territory. The Sirens were actually beautiful mermaids, laughing and smiling, waving the occupants of the ship over.

It wasn't until while they were sailing through mermaid territory that the new students realized...the older ones weren't jumping over the ledge.

They had been _duped_.

"Hey!" They yelled indignantly as the older students cackled.

The mermaids laughed, diving off of their rocks and into the sea. They leapt out of the water, flashing their fins and splashing water.

"The captain never changes, does he?" Lily turned around. Luke stood next to her, leaning on his back against the railing.

"That's what makes him the captain," she said, watching the new students chase the older. "No running on the deck!" she added.

"Sorry, centurion!"

The older students slowed down, causing the newest recruits to crash into them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Lupa promotes you to Praetor this year," Luke said as Lily faced the water again.

"Nah. If anyone, it's going to be Sieg," Lily said, putting her glasses back on, her vision turning a light blue.

"Quit being modest, Lily Lion." Luke plucked her glasses off. "After all, you're my apprentice," he said, putting the glasses on his own eyes.

"Only until January," Lily said.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the horizon, when he suddenly handed the glasses back to Lily, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?" she asked as Luke groaned.

"I just saw my life flashing in front of me," he mumbled, covering his eyes. "And other stuff I don't even want to name."

"I'm sorry, then." Lily reset her glasses, watching a hippocampus swim underwater. Smiling, she brought her attention back up. When she saw it.

She took her glasses off to make sure they were real. Nothing. Only when she put them on again did she see it.

* * *

Studying the papers under wandlight, Lucian's eyes wandered the seventeen year old articles of the _Augury Per Diem_.

He had asked his superiors—for once—what Voldemort meant by "_that_ woman", but to his surprise, they either looked around the corners and ran off, or scurried away as soon as he said it.

_So it had to be an old enemy of his_, he thought. But how could one woman's name be considered a taboo to the Dark Lord?

His eyes lit up. It seemed that he had found what he was looking for.

It was an October issue...the rest of the date was illegible, but it had the answer he had been looking for.

"_That_ woman, hmm?" he muttered, smirking.

"Lucian!" His mother's voice rang from downstairs. "I thought I told you to get to bed!"

"Sorry, mum!" Cursing inwardly, he muttered, "_Nox_." The wandlight faded until all that was left was darkness. Lucian fell back on his bed, moonlight hitting his eyes until he closed the blinds.

The youngest Death Eater was nothing before his mother.

* * *

Julian watched Luke talk to Lily, noting that the former would sneak looks at Lily when she wasn't looking. A strange feeling lifted its head within him.

"Something you want to talk about, Nightshade?" Julian turned his head to see his partner-in-crime—the more responsible one, that is.

"Not much to say, _Nacht_," he said, pronouncing the name with a German accent.

Sieg glanced in the direction of where Julian had been surveying. "Ah. Girl problems, I see."

"Wha—I do not!"

Siegfried Nacht tsked, shaking his head. "Julian Nightshade...when it comes to love... you are a _dummkopf_," he said, switching to his native tongue.

"Siegfried Nacht, you did not have to call me an idiot," Julian said.

"Then why do I have to call you one now?"

Silence passed between them, a salty sea wind following closely. Finally, Julian huffed. "I do like her...but—everytime I go near her...something in me just explodes—and I can't admit anything to her..."

"And also..." He glanced at Luke still talking to Lily. "Nearly every guy has their eyes on her...and almost everytime I see her...there's always a boy talking to her..."

Sieg clapped a hand on Julian's shoulder. "If you feel that much for a single girl...then don't let her go." A devilish grin painted itself over his face. "Looks like you already have competition."

"Yeah? With what army?"

"Well, more like a knight in the form of Luke di Mercurio," the German boy said.

Julian snorted, leaning back in his chair. "As if. He's her _mentor_, remember?"

"Yeah, but he's only a year and a few months older than her."

"Lily wouldn't fall for him." A worried look plastered his face. "Right?"

* * *

The mischievous mentor recognized that look in her eye. It was the same one he had when he fell for her...when he was a student, that was. Now, he was her mentor, and part of the group of Aurors who guarded the school.

"All right, what's the matter?" Luke asked.

"...an idiot," she mumbled.

"Ah." Luke smirked. "Julian, huh?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"Lily Lion, the entire Latin Quarter knows about it. What does that tell you?"

"That they have no life?"

Luke tsked, shaking his head. "Lily, if you feel that much for him, then just go up and tell him how you feel."

"I do. He just...doesn't get it."

"He'll figure it out in the end." Luke glanced at Julian and Sieg when another sight caught his eye. "The both of you might want to hurry with it. You already have competition."

"Yeah? With what army?"

"More like a wench in the form of _her_," he said, pointing in a certain direction. Lily followed his angle...until she saw a sight that nearly made her sick.

There was a tenth-year girl gazing at Julian with predator eyes...and it wasn't in the murderous way. Long blonde hair curled down her back, with dark eyes that stared lustfully at their prey. Lily had to admit she was pretty, with all the curves in the right places...but it was how she styled herself that shocked them. The girl's tunic had been partially unbuttoned so that her cleavage was visible; her skirt was too short, and she could've used less make-up.

"Who is she?" Lily asked, once they turned away.

"That," Luke said, "is Lilith Dolova. The biggest playgirl in the school. She has a different boy on her arm each week and doesn't care who she steals them from. If I were you, then I'd be on guard."

"Wait...don't tell me you—"

"Me? As if!" Luke leaned against the railing. "There was, um, one moment...during my school days when I almost became another notch on her bedpost..."

"Luke, please don't go into detail, I'm sorry I asked," Lily groaned.

"But then I thought of you."

Hearing this, Lily lifted her head, surprise and shock painted across her face. "What?"

"I thought of you," Luke said almost sheepishly. "During that time, I—like the rest of the boys in my year and above...had a crush on you." he looked away, almost embarassed. "I was fifteen at the time, could you really blame me?"

"No," she said. "It just makes you human."

"Human to a certain extant," Luke finished, feeling a weight lifted from his chest. But he didn't know if she felt the same way.

Was this how cruel love could be? To love someone...but to never know if they ever returned those feelings...

Venus had already begun her tapestry, weaving the feelings of her lovestruck victims together as one.

Fate has been woven, but never finished. It was still missing one thread.

* * *

"First off, how would you describe Lily?" Sieg said, writing everything down with a notepad and quill.

They were back in their ship cabin, with Julian staring out of the porthole.

"Siegfried, when did you become a therapist?" Julian mocked.

"Just now."

"Lily's just a friend."

"Repetition means that you're hiding something, or you're in denial."

Silence passed between the two of them. Finally, Julian gave in.

"She's...beautiful," he murmured. "More than the mermaids. Like...a goddess in human form...or even a daughter of Venus."

The duo stared outside to see if anyone had heard that, but no. The sea was calm and tranquil.

"You're lucky no one heard that," Sieg said. "Especially not—" He drew a heart in the air and pointed up to the ceiling.

"You just wait, Venus has something planned for me," Julian groaned. "She's just waiting for the perfect time to get back at me."

* * *

"How would you describe Julian?" Luke asked, making sure no one had followed them. He had located them in the storage cabin, the one place he knew of where privacy was ensured. Other than their cabins.

"Do I really need to answer?"

"That, or Sieg and I will go and say that the two of you are finally going out."

"Can I go with the latter?"

"No."

"It sounded more appealing."

"Yeah, but once we spread that lie, the both of you really do have to act like a couple," Luke said, crossing his arms as he leaned back. "And it's obvious that the two of you are reluctant to do so."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Lily Lion, just spit it out."

"...he's...decent. Kind— when he's not in combat, that is—lax, but sharp-minded...but he's judgmental," Lily said. "And...that's the problem."

"Mmm," Luke stood up and walked casually over to a crate. "If it weren't for that, he'd be on the Symphonian Court."

"I actually met him because of that," she cut in, opening an eye.

* * *

"...remember that time you and I got in trouble for "_destroying_" Professor Menta's greenhouses?" Julian asked, covering his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I think it was our sixth year," Sieg said, looking away rather guiltily.

Julian smirked, a snort tried to escape him. "Ashamed of your past crimes, _Centurion_ Siegfried? I believe you _are_ on the Symphonian Court."

"I have repented for my past criminal activities ever since I was appointed," he stated. "If you weren't so judgmental, you'd have a seat on the court."

"And be stuck with some desk job in the Ministry?"

* * *

"It was my first time being on the Symphonian Court," Lily started, placing her hand across her eyes. "I barely knew most of the people on the seats, they were all older than me."

"As one of the seats, anyone who was caught breaking a rule was tried by the Symphonian Court. Being judged by their peers of their cohort," she mumbled. "And it just so happened that my first case was where I met him."

"I didn't even know the two of them back then, not even a clue of their names."

* * *

"We were brought into the council room," Julian said. "My first thought...terrifying. There were ten court seats of Symphonia, all of them were seated high above us, making them appear like gods. I barely even knew them. I didn't even know who Lily was back then. "

"And so we were tried, and one of the seats tried to give us detention for the whole year."

"Hindenburg," Sieg spat, falling back on his bed. "That smelly git who looked like a troll. When he heard me say that, he went as far as to give me probation."

"Yeah, and everyone was afraid of the git," Julian said, opening an eye. "He was the second seat, and even the first chair was intimidated by him. In the Symphonian Court, Hindenburg's judgement was everyone's judgement. "

* * *

"Except..." Lily covered an eye. "For no reason, I spoke up. I told Hindenburg he was being unfair, that he wasn't even keeping to the rules."

"I still remember everyone else's faces when I said that. The other seats were scared, Julian and Sieg looked overjoyed, but Hindenburg looked ready to kill me. He told me that he was the head of the court, and could do what he pleased. And...then Valian finally found his voice. He said that, as first seat, he was the head. "

"Everyone on the court finally found their courage. Suddenly, they called for an appeal on their verdict, to deliver a fairer one. We took a vote, and Hindenburg lost."

* * *

"I was ready to be dragged out with you, but then a small voice found its way in and questioned Hindenburg. It was like the entire court was waking up from Hindenburg's nightmare, a chain reaction, and it all started with a kid no older than us."

"She was just there, on the tenth seat, a thirteen-year old who had almost no idea of how she saved us."

"We were tried again, with Hindenburg trying to put the others down, telling them that they knew nothing about how the court was ruled. And then, Lily, the girl who saved us, told him the one thing that I would always remember."

* * *

"I told him to shut up," Lily said.

* * *

"And then the final verdict was reached and delivered...by her. Three months of detention by helping Menta rebuild the greenhouses and replace the plants lost."

* * *

"And then...as I left the council room, Hindenburg tried to jinx me," Lily said. "I barely had enough time to get my wand when Julian defended me, and Sieg tackled Hindenburg to the ground."

* * *

"I had to take five baths just to get Hindenburg's stench off me," Sieg recalled.

"But it was worth it, no?" Julian added.

"At least Hindenburg was taken off the court," the German boy said. "But that left an unbalanced number of seats in the court."

* * *

"This time, they were tried again, but with Hindenburg," she recalled. "Julian and Sieg got off for defence, but Hindenburg was sacked from the court."

"Must have been great for everyone, huh?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, but we had to elect another seat."

"And Sieg got the tenth seat while you were pushed up to ninth."

* * *

"And here you are," Julian said. "Centurion of Symphonia and eighth seat of the Symphonian Court."

"Hey, it actually looks good on your resume," Sieg argued. "Combat and quick wit aren't enough to guarantee a job in the Ministry."

"What about Falco? All he did was watch others fight."

"He was analyzing their strengths and weaknesses."

"And yet, he became an Auror with_ one_ T."

"And that's coming from the boy who had _three_ Trolls on his Auror Qualification entrance exam."

"Hey, I passed on the make-up day!" Julian defended.

"But that didn't help you pass the wrath of Mrs. Nightshade," Sieg added.

Julian shuddered momentarily, recalling the day he came home during winter holidays to find his mother holding a letter.

_His entrance exam results._

That day, he swore his mother had blown his ears out. It didn't help that Lucian stood on the third landing, watching their mother and his half-brother argue.

Needless to say, Julian had one hell of storm coming for him the minute he opened the door. Of course, his mother was mad enough when she recieved a letter from Hogwarts saying that Lucian had recieved suspension for "_intentionally_" cursing his head of house. The only thing that he even knew of Lucian's House Head—that the latter even bothered to tell his half-brother, anyways—was that the man was a slimy git with a fat nose, end of story.

So both sons were forced to finish the chore list, in which they had to go out to the greenhouse and repot the mandrakes while fighting off a Venomous Tentacula their mother had bought at a magical herbologist's house. Although it did make the boys call for a temporary truce. That was probably one of the few times they worked together without cursing the others' head off.

The ship captain's voice rang through the vessel. "Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, we have arrived at the Roman Academy of Magical Combat."

Sieg threw his arms up in relief. "Thank goodness because I was starting to get seasick," Sieg said.

* * *

"First years, this way!" Lily called, a crowd of children gathering around her on land. "Don't worry about your luggage, it'll get sent to your rooms!" she added, seeing a seven-year old girl try to sneak her mouse into her pocket.

Finally, her other partner joined her, separating himself from Julian. "A lot more than usual, don't you think?"

"Lupa usually takes in fifty ankle-biters," Lily agreed. This year, there were almost two hundred first-year students, all talking amiably amongst themselves.

"Why this year, though?" Sieg asked.

The two Centurions could only shrug. Only the gods knew...them, and_ Lupa_.

But now wasn't the time to ponder. They had a tradition to uphold, and they weren't about to break it this year. Not when the ankle-biters were looking up to them, wondering when they would become influential members of society.

"Is everyone here?" Sieg called out to the crowd. The sea of seven-year olds fell silent as the centurions took count.

"One ninety-nine...two hundred, _two hundred one_!" Sieg exclaimed. "What's Lupa got in store for us?"

"Does it look like I know?" Lily asked. "All right, everyone follow us!" she called, waving them forward.

The sea of students followed the Centurions—though they had no idea of who they were at the moment—passing several villas and huts belonging to no one in particular.

One brave first-year decided to ask them. "Um, centurions?"

"Yes?" Lily asked, turning around slightly.

"Those villas...who owns them?"

"The school," Sieg answered.

"But what are they for?" the first year asked.

"When you reach your tenth year—" Lily started.

"Assuming you live that long," Sieg added.

"Don't scare them!" she scolded as several ankle-biters screamed in panic. "You'll be staying in those villas as part of a little 'expedition'."

"Can you tell us?"

"If we told you, then we'd have to Obliviate you," Lily said jokingly. The ankle-biter, on the other hand, looked miffed.

At long last, they reached a marble path leading to a large Roman temple.

Marble steps lead to bronze doors flanked by Roman statues of Terminus. Torches had been lit next to these statues, casting a strange glow on the marble.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Lily placed her left hand on the left door and Sieg vice versa.

"You are about to enter a world that you can never unsee. Are you brave enough to handle it?" they asked.

The sea of first-years nodded their assent.

Together, the centurions of Symphonia pushed the doors open.

Immediately, gasps sounded throughout the students as they entered the temple.

Statues of ancient wizards lined the walls, many of them being depicted as heroes slaying monsters. As they climbed up another set of stairs, some students began to wish they hadn't agreed.

Mounted heads of countless monsters and beasts adorned the blank walls, along with trophies of sorts. The fang of a basilisk, the actual head of a basilisk—

—then there was _Medusa's head._

Her head was placed on a marble pedestal, in all its glory, looking as though she was decapitated just yesterday. Her snake-hair remained limp and immobile, but had been pushed aside to reveal a horrifying sight.

_Her face._

Medusa's face—as described in legend—was the most hideous sight they had ever come upon, and her green skin only seemed to amplify the effect it had on the students. Red eyes glared at all of them. Though dead, the eyes seemed to follow their every movement.

The first years screamed, scrambling to hurry up the stairs only to pass more gruesome trophies.

Sieg chuckled, tapping Medusa's face. "They didn't bother to see that she was wearing a mask," he said, flicking the forehead with a clang.

"Gets them every year," Lily said, shaking her head. "'Course, we're ones to talk. You and Julian nearly _peed_ when you saw her."

"And that's coming from the girl who practically_ flew_ up the stairs when she saw Medusa," Sieg countered.

They reached the second floor, where the first-years stood, unsure of what was coming next. Though it looked like they were praying for no beasts.

A set of doors opened. "Welcome to the Roman Academy of Magical Combat."

The sea of students turned towards the open doors...only to see a wolf trotting towards them.

It was a beautiful white wolf, an alpha female, by the looks of her. Large amber eyes glinted in the light, focused on the ankle-biters. Her tail swished from side to side, continuing to do so even as she stopped a few feet away from them. She regarded them curiously, finding their scared expressions quite amusing. The she-wolf reared on her hind legs, and for a moment, the students thought she would eat them.

But then she transformed.

Limbs became arms and legs, with the paws replaced by hands and feet. Robes and hair took the place of the white fur, and eyes became more human shaped.

Where the she-wolf stood, a tall woman with wolf-like beauty took her place. Beautiful white hair had been gathered into a braid while the woman donned a purple Roman dress lined with gold.

The woman looked at her new students, renmants of her wolf transformation clinging as she smiled at them. "I am Lupa, Guardian of Rome, and your headmistress."

Lupa watched their expressions change from shock to awe as they realized that their headmistress was _the_ Lupa from the myths they were told as toddlers.

"From here on, you will be trained and taught various magical disciplines, along with many disciplines of the Muggle world. Those who have a problem with Muggle teachings, you may leave. The door is right behind you," she said, gesturing to the door with her hand.

Everyone stood their ground, refusing to retreat when they had come this far. Even the pureblood supremists stayed, refusing to leave the temple where heroes were made.

"Excellent." Lupa beckoned them forward as she herself walked away. The students followed after her, who were followed in turn by the centurions.

"Take heed: the ten years you will spend here will not be easy. Being accepted was just the first step into our world. Where heroes are born, where seers are made, where scholars are tutored, and where tacticians are educated: that is Rome."

They finally reached a grand foyer, where intricately woven tapestries from times lost remained beautifully intact.

"Here, I trained the greatest figures of our history." Lupa said. Her hand spread out, pointing to a tapestry of a man creating a city. "Romulus: the founder of Rome!" She indicated another tapestry of a man leading a small fleet to land. "Aeneas: ancestor of Remus and Romulus!"

Lupa spread her arms out. "Here, we teach our students how to fight..."

As she said this, the wall behind her had sprouted a hallway on the far left.

"...to kill..." Some students grinned amongst themselves at the word kill.

Another door popped out, next to the first door.

"...to lead..."

A third door appeared on the wall.

"...and to survive," she finished.

The final entrance appeared. Four hallways stood next to each other on the wall, identical down to the last brick.

"And there are four cohorts," Lupa said. "Each one differentiates from each other. Symphonia: lovers of knowledge! Duella: warriors of battle! Fata: creators of the future! And finally, Harmonia: keepers of peace."

Lupa stepped aside and spread her arm out. "Behind each of these doors, there is a single table filled with those of one cohort."

One ankle-biter threw in a question. "Which one is Duella?"

"That's the best part," Sieg said, bringing himself to the front. _"We don't know."_

Murmurs of confusion spread quickly throughout the crowd. "What's the point in telling us if we don't know which one's which!" a boy yelled.

"Where's the fun in that?" Lily walked towards the front of the room, standing beside Sieg. "If you knew which door led where, then everyone would go there. The only risk in taking adventures is not taking it at all."

"This is a choice everyone has made," Lupa said. "We'll wait here as long as we have to until the last person decides. "

For a while, no one moved. Several students were furious, not knowing which door led to the cohort of their choice.

Finally, one student stepped up, though nervously. Lily and Sieg stepped aside for him.

"Does this have a meaning behind it?" the student asked.

Lily raised her eyebrows, surprised that he had caught on so quickly. "Everything," she said, spreading her arms for emphasis, "is a result of your choices. That's what creates your future. Be it confronting your enemies, or simply running away, no matter how small the action, it affects your whole life."

"Once you've decided, there's no going back," Sieg added.

"Can't we at least have a hint?" the boy asked.

Lily bent down so she could meet him face-to-face. "Go with your instincts. It's different for everyone, but there's always a door that calls you to it more than the others."

It could've been days as they stood there, even weeks as the boy stared at each of the four doors.

And then...he marched towards the second hallway, disappearing into its darkness.

A chain reaction began amongst the students by his action. Several students walked towards the first door, others the third, some even chose the second door. Handfuls of ankle-biters chose the very last door.

And finally, there was one student left.

A small girl stood nervously, contemplating each of the doors. Her eyes kept darting back and forth from the first door and the second, the third and fourth. Then she looked at her new headmistress and superiors. "I..I don't know," she mumbled.

"It's okay if you don't know," Lily said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"B-but, what if I choose wrong?"

"There's no wrong choice." Lily gestured towards the doors. "You don't have to adjust immediately to whatever cohort you land in. Nor do you have to follow their expectations. You can move as slow as you want, so long as you're comfortable with it. "

The young girl stood taller now. Though afraid, she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Taking one deep breath, her feet carried her to the fourth and final door.

"...you're too soft," Sieg said.

"No, you're too harsh," Lily shot.

"But our students are expected to solve every obstacle in their life on their own," Lupa reminded.

Lily bowed her head. "Yes, Professor Lupa."

* * *

A loud snapping sound was heard as the door closed behind the girl. Slowly, the doors' images wavered before joining at the sides. The marble thresholds disappeared, polished gold doors merging together, forming a wide doorway. But then the door seemingly grew taller and taller, before it stopped short of the ceiling. The individual doorknobs disappeared as a thin line of light split the golden doors in half.

The doors opened, leading into a grand dining hall with four tables parallel to the wall. Ornate marble steps lead to a polished mahogany table set with platters of food, pitchers of drinks, glasses, empty plates, napkins, and silverware.

In front of the tables, there was a standard with a crest, each different from the last. The first table near the wall had the crest of an astological zodiac table. Two blue circles, one smaller and within the the larger, creating a section between the circles. The section had been divided into twelve individual sections, each containing a zodiac sign. The crest of Fata, against the colors of purple and white.

Its opposite situated on the other side of the hall, the standard of Duella stood proudly. A Roman war helmet with two crossed swords surrounded by laurels had been woven into the tapestry, against red and accents of black.

Next to the Duella table was the calm cohort of Harmonia. A beautiful white dove holding an olive branch soared across the flag, flying past threads of green and white.

And finally, between the tables of Harmonia and Fata, the proud cohort of Symphonia. A silver cross with two crossed swords behind it, handles facing out, set against blue and silver.

Lupa walked past her centurions and up to the teachers' table. Lily and Sieg, on the other hand, made their way to the Symphonia table.

"Ankle-biters met Lady Medusa, I presume?" Julian smirked as they sat down, biting into a tart.

"They forgot to say good-bye to her," Lily said.

"And how beautiful she was," Sieg chortled.

Nearby Symphonians snorted at Sieg's joke, the first-years looking rather indignified.

"They panicked that badly?"

"Well," Sieg muttered, "if the trails of yellow were any clue."

Julian nearly choked on his prime rib from laughter. A tenth year next to them pounded his back. "Ready for that expedition?" he asked.

"We're prepared for it, Romeo," Lily said, cutting up a medium rare prime rib.

"I heard they were going to reinstate the chariot races."

Her fork stopped itself from entering her mouth, a piece of prime rib stuck on its tines. "The chariot races?" she repeated.

"Along with some other games, too," Romeo said, counting off the games that would take place this year. "So other than Quidditch and the chariots, they're instating Quodpot, duelling—"

"Bet Duella's going to have a free-for-all," Sieg muttered.

"I forgot the rest, but they're creating a game called Sagittarius," Romeo finished.

A small grin crossed Lily's face. "Sagittarius?"

"Yeah, arrows flying and everything."

Sieg chuckled as Lily chewed on her steak piece, almost oblivious of the fact that it had gone cold minutes ago. If there was one thing he could define about her, it was the fact that she loved archery. "Any particular reason for this?" she asked.

"I think...Tantalus said it was part of the_ Ludi Plebeii_," Romeo said.

"The git of a teacher said that?" Sieg inquired, eyebrow raised.

In the Roman Academy, everyone knew Tantalus...and_ hated_ him. And he hated them. It was no secret. For a Deputy Headmaster and Offensive and Defensive Magic teacher, Tantalus was horrible in the former department but highly proficient in the latter. If the git would change his personality, then he'd be a favorable teacher.

A bell rang across the hall. All heads turned in the direction of Lupa, who held a small bell in her hand. Setting it down, she smiled her wolfish smile at her students.

"As we all know, our newest students have passed safely and bravely into this school. First years, we, the Roman Academy of Magical Combat, wish you all good luck."

Everyone clapped loudly for the youngest students. The latter group had no idea of their headmistress' words, though they knew enough to tell that there was a hidden meaning in them.

"Tenth years: as you all know, the annual expedition for all of you is arriving in two months."

The tenth years from every table roared their assent, clapping for themselves. Ever since they arrived years ago, the previous tenth years had told them all about the expedition their year went on and where they would go. Since then, they figured they knew everything about the expedition.

"However," Lupa said. "I should warn you. Most of what you have been told about the expedition..._is a lie_."

An uproar ensued. Yells of protest rang across the hall, denying her words. Peace was finally restored when a wolf howl echoed within the walls.

Lupa cleared her throat, watching her tenth year students sit down and behave. "That doesn't mean that the expedition will not take place," she said, inspecting their reactions. "What I meant to say was...the site of this expedition changes every year. However, one month from now, we will give you a hint as to where the site will be this year. Your job is to figure out where it is, determine its topography, and prepare for it. "

Sounds of comprehension resonated throughout the dining hall, their questions answered, problems clarified.

"Now off to bed, all of you." The empty platters and plates disappeared as the students rose from their tables, chattering amiably.

* * *

"Symphonians, this way!" Sieg called, making his way out the door, with his cohort following him and Lily.

"Are we going to our dorms?" An ankle-biter asked.

"Where else would we go?" Julian said.

They climbed flights of stairs, crossed corridors, and even passed a stuffed Nemean Lion on its hind legs, a small rabbit cowering underneath it.

At long last, they came to a stop before a tapestry depicting the deities Mars and Venus in a garden, the latter's son—Cupid—flying overhead. Venus was shown swooning into Mars' arms, leaning back into a tree.

Lily stretched her hand out and tickled the tree. The tree laughed, a hollow forming in its trunk while a door handle could be seen in it. She reached up to the door handle and yanked on it. The tapestry and the wall behind it swung outwards, revealing another hallway. By the time every Symphonian had entered the hallway, the tapestry door swung shut, enveloping them in darkness. But then Sieg snapped his fingers, and torches set along the walls lit themselves, giving them a better view of their surroundings.

The walls were covered by tapestries, depicting various events throughout the Greek and Roman history and myths—though to them, myths_ were_ their history.

The first years watched the moving tapestries in awe as they passed through the hall. Hercules slaying the Nemean Lion and taking its fur as his cloak before he rushed off to his next labor; Theseus slaying the Minotaur; and Perseus slaying Medusa.

"This way," Sieg's voice called. The first-years saw that they had slowed down too much and were far behind the rest of their cohort. They sprinted down the hall, passing a tapestry of Uranus and Terra reaching out to each other, trying to embrace the other. But Atlas separated the lovers, keeping the sky from ever meeting the earth.

At the end of the hall, there was a light. Finally, they reached the end. A large common room had come into view, set with a midnight blue tiles with patterns on it that made it seem to mimic the sea. This was confirmed when the wavy patterns moved across the floor, with a mermaid or other water dwellers swimming across the floor. The domed ceiling was far more impressive: painted blue with silver stars and angels chasing each other across the ceiling. Furnished with tables, chairs, armchairs, and couches, it was the perfect place for one to study. Two stairwells led up to a second floor, where bookshelves lined the walls save for two doorways, one with Venus painted on the door, the other with Mars on it. Tables and chairs were placed next to the railings, so one could easily look down upon their fellow scholars. Windows were placed between every few bookshelves to allow sunlight to enter.

The first years stopped in awe as they took in the appearance of this atheneum, various thoughts running through their minds.

"More likely than not, this is where you'll do all of your studying," Lily said, gesturing to the Symphonian common room.

"And the books in here are ours," Sieg added. "In fact, the Symphonian Library is the second most largest library in the school. Next to the main library, that is. So you don't have to rent out a book from the main library. However, we don't have every book you need."

"...it's perfect," a first year boy said.

"Glad you think so," Sieg said. "Now, for the dorms: boys go through the Mars door, girls through Venus."

Everyone made their way up the stairs, some taking note of the beautiful architecture of the Symphonian common room.

Lily opened the door of Venus, climbing up the stairs until she reached a door with the Roman numeral X. Pushing it open, the room was just like how she remembered it every year: six four poster beds, three bathrooms, two empty bookshelves, and a laundry hamper.

Taking a look around her, at everything she had known since she stepped foot in this school, she allowed a small smile to form on her lips.

"I'm home."

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long! But there was the matter of writer's block (a very horrible case), school, and personal matters. It took me a while to decide how to fit in myths and how the student body would be, not to mention adding humor into this. Thank you to those who read this story even though I have not updated for three months.**

**So here's what the cohorts represent, in case you didn't catch it:**

**Symphonia- Knowledge**

**Harmonia- Peace**

**Fata- Destiny**

**Duella- War**

**I'm open to any ideas you guys want to suggest, whether it be the story plot or the writing style. At this point, the next chapter might also take months because I have absolutely no idea.**

**Signing off,**

**Divine Valor**


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